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AT  EVENING  TIME: 


A  BOOK    O'F  SUPPORT  A'NE    COMFOET 
FOR  fSE  AGED. 


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LIGHT  AT  EVENIIG  TIME: 

A  BOOK  OF 

SUPPORT  AND  COMFORT 


FOR 


THE   AGED. 


ikt    evening   time    it    sliall    be    light. 

Zech.  xiv.,  7. 


EDITED  BY 

JOHN  STANFOKD  HOLME,  D.D. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLINSQUARE. 

1875. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congi-ess,  in  the  year  1870,  \>j 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


TO 


PETER    BALEN, 

OF    NEW    YORK    CITY, 

THE  INTEGRITY  OF  WHOSE   BUSINESS  LIFE,  THE  LARGENESS  OF  WHOSE 

LIBERALITY,  AND  THE   FERVOR  OF  WHOSE  PIETY  HAVE  FOR 

MANY  YEARS   EVINCED  TO   THE  WORLD   A   FAITH 

WHICH  IS  NOW  AFFORDING  TO  HIM  THE 

SUPPORT   AND    COMFORT   OF 

LIGHT     AT     EVENING    TIME, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  IN'SCRIBED 

BY 

HIS  FRIEND  AND  FORMER  PASTOR, 

THE   EDITOR. 


PREFATORY    NOTE. 


Cicero,  in  his  justly  celebrated  treatise  on  Old 
Age,  says  "  it  can  not  be  supposed  that  Nature,  after 
having  wisely  distributed  to  all  preceding  periods 
of  life  their  pecuHar  and  proper  enjoyments,  should 
have  neglected,  like  an  indolent  poet,  the  last  act  of 
the  human  drama,  and  left  it  destitute  of  suitable 
advantages." 

If  this  term  Nature,  as  here  used  by  Cicero, 
might  be  so  defined  as  to  include  the  God  of  nature 
as  revealed  in  the  Bible,  the  sentiment  is  not  only 
eminently  true,  but  in  singular  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  divine  revelation ;  for  in  the  light  of  the 
Bible,  old  age  is  not  without  its  especial  sources  of 
enjoyment  and  its  own  peculiar  rewards. 

The  calmness  and  tranquillity  of  this  period  of 
life   enable  the  behever,  as   from   an  eminence,  to 


PREFATORY  NOTE, 

look  back  over  the  past  with  great  spiritual  profit, 
and  to  look  forward  with  clear  vision  to  an  eternity 
of  bliss  not  far  distant.  While  those  in  advanced 
years  may  be  incapable  of  fixed  and  long-continued 
attention,  yet  this  period  of  life  is  not  unfavorable 
to  meditation.  In  its  exercise,  the  truths  of  religion 
and  the  promises  of  the  divine  Word  grow  more 
precious,  and  yield  great  spiritual  refreshment  and 
comfort.  Thus  the  aged  are  not  only  enabled  to 
forget  many  of  their  infirmities,  but  they  are  fre- 
quently more  than  compensated  for  the  absence  of 
many  of  the  hurrying  and  bustling  pleasures  of 
earlier  life. 

As  far  as  may  be,  to  assist  the  aged  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duties  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  privileges,  this  volume  has  been  prepared.  It 
contains  such  religious  truth  as  is  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  aged,  and  is  printed  in  such  type  as  is 
best  suited  to  their  use.  The  articles  are  generally 
brief,  and  the  work  is  designed  to  be  a  sort  of  Man- 
ual, to  be  taken  up  at  odd  moments  for  occasional 
perusal. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

In  the  selection  of  materials  for  the  volume,  we 
have  aimed  to  secure  the  greatest  variety  both  of 
matter  and  form,  and  to  gather  them  from  the  widest 
range  of  authorship.  We  have  admitted  nothing 
which  is  not  eminently  evangelical  in  sentiment, 
and  nothing,  as  we  suppose,  offensively  sectarian  in 
doctrine. 

It  is  hoped  that  there  may  be  found  in  the  book 
something  suitable  for  every  frame  of  mind  and 
every  experience  incident  to  the  decline  of  life,  and 
that  it  may  be  to  the  spirit  of  the  aged  pilgrim  what 
the  staff  of  myrtle,  according  to  Pliny,  was  to  the 
traveler,  infusing  such  an  energy  that  during  the 
longest  day  he  never  grew  faint  or  weary. 

Especial  thanks  are  due  to  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D., 
Rev. Howard  Crosby, D.D.,  Rev.  George  B.Cheever, 
D.D.,  and  Rev.  William  Adams,  D.D.,  for  original 
contributions  to  the  volume,  and  to  Rev.  Stephen 
H.  Tyng,  D.D.,  for  services  kindly  proffered  in  the 
examination  of  the  manuscripts. 

J.  S.  H. 

New  York,  BepUmlcr^  1870. 


INTRODUCTION. 


I  AM  desired  to  write  an  Introduction  to  this  val- 
uable compilation.  I  have  looked  through  it  with 
care  and  pleasure.  It  presents  an  aggregate  of  re- 
ligious experience,  wisdom,  and  genius,  which  gives 
to  it  the  weight  of  authority  and  the  attraction  of 
delight.  The  selection  displays  an  equal  extent  of 
information  and  discernment  of  skill  in  the  industri- 
ous compiler.  He  will  be  rewarded,  personally,  in 
the  assurance  of  the  fact,  and  commemoratively  in 
the  continuance  of  its  influence,  that  he  has  been 
the  instrument,  in  divine  and  gracious  hands,  for  giv- 
ing comfort,  encouragement,  and  strength  to  thou- 
sands of  the  people  of  God  in  their  years  of  debil- 
ity, solitude,  and  earthly  decay.  The  mind  which 
so  skillfully  provides  true  comfort  for  age,  may  en- 
joy the  cheering  reflection  that  its  objects  will 
never  fail,  and  that  the  Savior  who  loves  them  will 


11^ TB  OD  TJCTION. 

surely  bless  the  one  who  so  willingly  and  cheerfully 
does  them  good. 

The  title  of  the  work  is  well  selected.  There  is 
but  one  LIGHT  to  this  dark  and  sinful  world.  That 
is  the  gracious  Savior,  who  visited  this  world  for 
its  full  redemption,  and  who  gave  to  its  fallen,  wan- 
dering ones  the  infallible  assurance  that  whosoever 
"  followeth  him  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life."  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lamb  of 
God,  and  the  Lord  of  man,  is  the  one  living,  ade- 
quate, glorious  light  on  earth,  for  the  aged  and  the 
young.  To  embrace  him  in  the  heart,  with  a  living, 
loving  faith,  is  to  be  brought  out  of  darkness  into 
light.  To  walk  with  him  in  the  fellowship  of  mu- 
tual trust  and  love,  is  to  "  walk  in  the  light,  and  to 
have  no  darkness  at  all."  To  do  this  in  youth,  to 
abide  in  this  through  all  of  active  life  on  earth,  is  to 
provide  a  sunshine  for  the  evening,  as  effective  as 
the  wonder  of  victorious  Joshua,  and  as  real  and 
sure  as  the  promise  of  a  covenant-keeping  God. 
"  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down,  neither  shall  thy 
moon  withdraw  itself  The  Lord  shall  be  thine  ev- 
erlasting light,  and  the  days  of  thy  mourning  shall 
be  ended." 

This  is  the  "  light  at  evening  time,"  in  a  twofold 


INTR  OB  UCTION. 

sense  of  application — in  retrospection  and  in  antic- 
ipation— the  light  of  memory  in  the  past,  and  the 
light  of  hope  in  the  future. 

The  aged  believer  has  a  precious  light  of  retro- 
spection and  memory.  The  whole  path  of  the  past, 
perhaps  from  the  days  of  youth,  shines  illuminated 
by  the  light  of  Jesus,  a  Savior  already  accepted,  en- 
joyed, and  loved.  None  but  the  aged  can  really 
understand  this,  with  what  delight  the  meditations 
rest  upon  the  grace  which  has  been  given  in  all  the 
years  gone  by.  The  memory  is  a  divine  repository 
of  joys.  And  age  is  wonderfully  quickened  and 
aided  in  the  power  of  recalling  them,  and  contem- 
plating them  in  the  most  minute  analysis  of  partic- 
ulars, and  in  the  clearest  display  of  connections  be- 
tween individual  facts. 

The  day  of  one's  conversion,  the  period  of  life 
when  Jesus  first  came  to  claim  his  abode  in  the 
heart — how  vividly  all  its  facts,  its  relations,  its  de- 
velopments, its  influences,  rise  up  then  to  view.  It 
was  the  time  of  a  divine  espousal.  Jesus  appear- 
ed, the  loving  bridegroom  of  the  waiting  soul.  He 
aroused  the  thought;  he  awakened  the  conscious 
needs  ;  he  displayed  his  own  attractions  to  the  heart 
distressed ;  he  entered  into  his  chamber  of  repose ; 


INTR  OD  UCTION. 

he  assumed  his  abiding  dwelling  there ;  and  the  dark- 
ness had  passed,  and  the  true  light  was  now  shining, 
to  go  out  no  more. 

In  this  precious  light  of  a  Savior,  received,  accept- 
ed, and  loved,  the  converted  soul  has  walked  ;  believ- 
ing, trusting,  grateful,  happy,  perfectly  satisfied,  and 
perfectly  at  rest ;  filled  with  joy  in  such  companion- 
ship, and  desiring  none  other  than  this  Angel  of  the 
Covenant,  who  hath  redeemed  him  from  all  evil,  and 
hath  led  him  all  his  life  through  in  perfect  security 
and  perfect  peace. 

And  now,  at  evening  time,  in  the  remembrance  of 
all  this  life  of  divine  acceptance  and  of  self-re- 
nouncing faith  in  Jesus,  there  is  a  sweet  and  assur- 
ing light.  As  old  John  Newton  said  in  such  a  time, 
"  I  am  not  what  I  ought  to  be,  I  am  not  what  I  wish 
to  be,  I  am  not  what  I  shall  be,  but,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  I  am  not  what  I  was.  And  by  that  grace,  I  am 
what  I  am."  Thus  may  the  aged  Christian  say. 
Born  of  God,  living  in  Christ,  walking  in  the  Spirit, 
kept  in  the  faith,  abiding  in  the  love  of  God,  and  re- 
joicing in  him  who  was  "  the  guide  of  my  youth," 
and  is  "  all  my  salvation,  and  all  my  desire."  I  bless 
God  from  the  ground  of  my  heart  that,  according  to 
his  promise,  "  at  evening  time  there  is  light." 


INTROD  VCTION. 

But  it  is  the  light  of  anticipation,  as  well  as  the 
light  of  memory.  Jesus  is  very  near  to  aged  com- 
panions with  himself  He  has  laid  out  their  jour- 
ney ;  he  has  attended  them  in  all  their  passage 
through  the  wilderness  of  earth  ;  and  now  he  shines 
before  them  in  the  solitude  of  peculiar  attractions, 
and  with  the  power  of  peculiar  encouragement. 

Never  before  did  human  goodness  and  man's  suf- 
ficiency appear  so  worthless  or  vanish  so  completely. 
Never  was  the  soul  brought  so  low  or  so  dependent. 
Never  was  the  heart  so  weaned  from  earth  and 
earthly  things.  Never  were  obstructions  so  com- 
pletely removed  from  the  path  of  the  believing  soul. 
And  never  did  the  absolute  and  incomparable  suf- 
ficiency of  Jesus,  as  an  all-sufficient  Savior,  appear 
so  supreme,  so  complete,  so  appropriate,  so  attract- 
ive, so  sure,  as  he  now  seems  to  the  soul  believing 
at  evening  tide. 

The  aged  pilgrim  really  sees  but  one  thing,  de- 
sires but  one  thing,  possesses  but  one  thing.  That" 
is  Jesus,  an  all -conquering,  all-supplying  Savior; 
bringing  every  thing,  giving  every  thing,  having 
every  thing,  securing  every  thing.  Never  was  hope 
so  clear,  so  adequate,  or  so  glorified.  "  I  am  a  great 
sinner.     I  have  a  great  Savior."     The  past  is  filled 


INTROD  UCTION. 

with  his  grace.  The  future  is  flowing  with  his 
glory.  And  Jesus,  Jesus  only,  is  "  the  Light  at  even- 
ing time." 

Such  are  the  views,  such  are  the  emotions  with 
which  the  evening  of  the  soul  on  earth  is  blessed 
by  its  great  Redeemer.  These  principles,  thus  il- 
lustrated, shine  through  this  affecting  and  encour- 
aging compilation.  And  in  the  sure  enjoyment  of 
such  blessings,  through  infinite  grace,  I  commend 
the  work  to  all  my  fellow-pilgrims  in  this  evening 
time  of  life. 

Stephen  H.  Tyng, 

St.  Geokge's  Rectoey,  Kew  Yoek,  June^  1873. 


^et  mi  u\  Dff  in  \^t  \m  nf  nlli  ngt;  farsnltB  mB  not  mlini  nit[ 
stnngtlj  faibtjj. 

*  *  ::••  *  *  :,: 

3  mill  gn  in  tljj  strrngtli  nf  IIib  ITnrli  #nii :  3  mill  mah  m!n- 
tJDtt  Df  Ijiii  rig!itrnn0iit33,  mm  nf  tjiittf  diiIi[. 

(D  €inX  tjjnu  jiast  tnngjit  mr  frnm  mr{  tjontji :  nnii  jiitjiertn  ^m 
S  hrlarrli  tjitj  mnnlirnns  innrks. 

31m  nlsa  injirn  S  cm  d1^  null  grnti-junM,  (D  (0nlr,  fnrsnkB  m? 
nnt;  until  S  jinnr  sjinnirli  tjiii  stegtlj  nntn  tjiis  gmrntinn,  ml  tlit[ 
mmt  tn  Enrrir  nn?  ikt  b  to  rnnij.  ^      „  ,    . 

*  ^  '^  (l\st  Psalm.) 


Light  at  Evening  Time. 


YO  UTII  RENEWED  IN  A  GE. 

BY  JAMES  W.  ALEXANDER,  D.D. 

Christian  confidence  and  hope  in  God  give  fresh- 
ness, strength,  and  joy  even  in  the  period  of  old  age. 
"  They  that  wait  on  Jehovah" — or,  in  modern  Enghsh, 
they  that  wait  for  him,  who  evince  their  trust  in  his 
goodness  and  power  by  patiently  awaiting  the  fulfill- 
ment of  his  promises,  they,  though  no  longer  young 
(mark  the  contrast  with  ver.  30) — "  shall  renew  their 
strength  :  they  shall  mount  up  on  wings  like  eagles  ; 
they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary,  and  they  shall  walk 
and  not  faint."*  The  same  thought  is  in  the  thanks- 
giving of  the  one  hundred  and  third  Psalm,  verse  5. 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  who  satisfieth  thy 
mouth  with  good  things,  so  that  thy  youth  is  renew- 
ed like  the  eagle's."  From  both  we  may  conclu- 
sively gather  that  Divine  grace  has  influences  to 
bestow  which  can  counteract  and  often  annul  the 
debilitating  tendencies  of  old  age.     We  are  not  au- 

*  Isaiah  xlix.,  31. 

B 


10  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

thorized,  it  is  true,  to  teach  that  any  degree  of  re- 
hgious  affection  can  turn  back  the  shadow  on  the 
dial-plate,  restore  its  auburn  beauty  to  the  gray 
head,  or  neutralize  the  physical  causes  of  distress ; 
though  even  here,  such  is  the  power  of  spirit  over 
matter,  that  history  shows  marvels  of  an  almost 
youthful  gladness  in  blessed  Christian  old  age. 
But  we  may  and  can  assert  that  he  whose  habits 
have  been  formed  in  a  perpetual  waiting  upon  God 
receives  a  hallowed  unction  of  grace,  which,  so  to 
speak,  makes  him  young  again,  or,  more  properly, 
keeps  him  from  waxing  old  within.  In  the  most 
rapid  survey,  we  have  considered  some  of  the 
causes  which  makes  this  season  of  life  formidable. 
All  ages  have  observed  them  ;  all  philosophies  have 
sought  to  destroy  or  lessen  their  force.  The  most 
accomplished  of  all  Roman  authors  has  left  nothing 
more  finished  than  his  celebrated  tract  on  Old  Age 
(Cicero,  I>e  Senectute).  Short  of  the  meridian  beam 
of  revelation  and  its  reflections,  nothing  ever  showed 
more  nobly ;  yet  the  ray  of  its  consolations  is  but  a 
beautiful  moonlight.  In  vain  is  the  venerable  Cato 
introduced  to  teach  us  secrets  which  Cato  never 
knew.  In  this  gem-like  treatise  Cicero  refers  the 
troubles  of  age  to  four  classes.  Old  age,  so  he  tells 
us,  is  feared  because  (1.)  it  withdraws  from  the  af- 
fairs of  life  ;  because  (2.)  it  brings  infirmity  of  body  ; 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME,  11 

because  (3.)  it  abridges  or  ends  our  pleasures ;  and 
(4.)  because  it  leads  to  death.  Already,  in  treating 
of  these  several  heads,  much  is  said  truly,  ably,  and, 
to  a  certain  extent,  satisfactorily,  on  the  first  and 
third  topics,  but  on  the  last  there  is  nothing  but  mel- 
ancholy conjecture.  Even  in  regard  to  the  other 
heads — of  business,  health,  and  pleasure — the  sug- 
gestions are  infinitely  below  those  known  by  the 
humblest  Christian  rustic ;  for  what  did  this  great 
and  eloquent  Roman  know  of  the  oil  which  grace 
pours  into  the  sinking  and  almost  expiring  lamp  ? 

RETIRING  FROM  BUSINESS. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  when  we  come  with  can- 
dor to  the  investigation,  that,  as  a  general  truth,  old 
age  withdraws  men  from  the  employments  of  life, 
and  seals  up  the  active  business  years.  In  the  great 
majority  of  instances,  however,  this  retreat  from  la- 
bor is  voluntarily  sought  long  before  the  access  of 
grave  infirmity.  Indeed,  in  prosperous  communi- 
ties, many  retire  too  early,  under  the  chimerical 
hope  of  enjoying  an  elegant  repose,  for  which  they 
have  made  no  provision  by  mental  culture  and  dis- 
cipline of  moral  habits.  There  is,  it  is  true,  another 
sort  of  recession  from  productive  labors  which  we 
occasionally  observe  in  old  men,  and  which  arises 
wholly  from  an  unchastened  selfishness.     Let  any 


12  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

one  grow  wealthy  without  the  warming  and  ex- 
panding influences  of  benevolence,  and  he  will  more 
and  more  lose  his  interest  in  all  that  is  going  on  in 
the  world.  Even  wars  and  revolutions  touch  him 
only  in  their  financial  aspects,  and  the  daily  journal 
is  to  him  not  so  much  a  courier  of  news  as  a  barom- 
eter of  loss  and  gain.  Without  religion,  the  circle 
becomes  more  contracted.  Friends  have  departed, 
by  scores  if  not  by  hundreds.  What  cares  he  for 
mighty  movements  in  behalf  of  humanity  and  holi- 
ness around  him  ?  What  cares  he  for  posterity, 
the  country,  or  the  world,  so  that  he  can  exalt  his 
own  gate,  or  die  worth  some  round  sum  which  floats 
before  him  as  his  heaven  ?  In  the  same  degree  he 
wraps  himself  in  his  mantle,  which  is  daily  shrink- 
ing to  his  own  poor  dimensions.  This  is  misery 
indeed.  Take  away  the  blessed  sun,  and  every 
thing  becomes  wintry,  frozen,  all  but  dead ;  take 
away  more  blessed  love,  and  thfe  heart  is  dumb, 
cheerless,  insulated,  meanly  poor,  so  that  the  Latins 
named  such  a  one  Miser. 

AGED  CimiSTIANS  STILL  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE. 

Let  us  leave  him,  shivering  in  his  cave,  overhung 
with  icicles,  and  come  out  into  the  evening  sunshine 
to  consider  the  aged  bcHever.  He  is  like  Mnason, 
"an    old    disciple."     He    still  learns.     The   Greek 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  13 

story  tells  us  that  when  Solon  lay  dying,  and  over- 
heard some  conversation  on  philosophy  in  his  apart- 
ment, he  raised  his  head  and  said,  "  Let  me  share  in 
your  conversation,  for,  though  I  am  dying,  I  would 
still  be  learning."  Ten  thousand  times  has  this  been 
more  reasonably  exemplified  in  dying  Christians, 
w  ho  consider  the  whole  of  this  life  as  but  the  low- 
est  form  of  the  school  into  which  they  have  been 
entered.  And  in  regard  to  activity,  while  modes  of 
service  must  vary  with  the  bodily  condition,  we  are 
bold  to  maintain  that  innumerable  Christians  now 
living  are,  in  advanced  life,  impressing  the  whole  en- 
gine of  human  affairs  with  as  momentous  a  touch 
as  at  any  previous  stage  of  existence.  If  there  is 
wisdom,  the  proper  jewel  of  age,  and  divine  grace 
in  its  manifold  actings,  there  need  be  no  lack  of  in- 
fluence. They  still  lift  up  the  eagle  pinion,  and  soar 
in  such  greatness  as  belongs  to  their  nature.  But 
the  point  to  which  we  would  ask  more  marked  at- 
tention is  this,  that  the  aged  believer,  so  far  from 
being  selfishly  dead  to  what  is  going  on  in  the  w  orld, 
is  more  vigilant,  and  more  in  sympathy  with  all,  than 
even  in  his  days  of  youth.  Blessed  be  God,  wc 
have  seen  this  again  and  again.  The  man  who 
w^aits  on  God,  the  man  of  faith  and  hope,  the  man 
of  melting  benevolence,  looks  through  the  loop-holes 
of  retreat  upon  a  world  whose  vast  and  often  terrific 


14  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

revolutions  interest  him  chiefly  as  inckided  in  a  cy- 
cle of  providential  arrangements  calculated  to  de- 
velop and  exhibit  the  glory  of  grace.  His  heart 
beats  responsive  to  these.  The  news  of  Christ's 
kinofdom  is  as  dear  to  him  as  when  he  was  vehe- 
mently  active  in  the  field.  He  looks  down  the  ages 
by  the  lamp  of  prophecy,  and  beholds  events  which 
will  take  place  when  he  shall  have  been  long  in 
Paradise.  This  connects  him  with  the  cause  of 
Christ  on  earth,  and  redeems  him  from  that  misera- 
ble dungeon-like  seclusion  of  soul  which  wastes 
away  the  aged  worldling.  So  far  is  it  from  being 
true  that  these  portraitures  are  figments  of  religious 
imagination,  that  we  have  been  led  to  the  choice  of 
the  subject  by  knowledge  and  recollection  of  this 
very  paradox  in  actual  example  —  to  wit,  extreme 
old  age  made  light,  strong,  and  happy  by  commu- 
nity of  interest  in  the  progressive  triumphs  of  phi- 
lanthropy and  missions. 

THE  SOUL  MOUNTING  TOYiARD  THE  SUN  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

When,  according  to  the  Talmudic  fable,  the  eagle 
soars  toward  the  sun,  he  renews  the  plumage  of  his 
former  days.  As  the  serene  disciple  withdraws 
himself  from  any  personal  agency  in  the  entangling 
plans  of  life,  he  studies  more  profoundly  what  his 
Master  is  weaving  into   the  web  cf  history.     No 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  15 

longer  young,  he  has  a  heart  which  gushes  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  young.  He  cheers  them  on.  He 
places  the  weapons  in  their  hands.  He  takes  from 
the  wall  his  sword,  shield,  and  helmet,  and  rejoices 
that  God  still  has  younger  soldiers  in  the  field.  He 
lives  his  life  over  again  in  their  achievements,  and 
pictures  to  himself  more  signal  victories  after  he 
shall  have  gone.  Like  the  wounded  hero,  Wolfe^ 
he  could  even  die  more  happy  if  the  shout  of  victory 
should  arouse  his  failing  perception.  Far  from  be- 
ing shut  up  in  morose,  neglectful  selfishness,  he  glo- 
ries that  God's  cause  still  fives  and  must  prevail. 

CHRISTIANITY  A  SYSTEM  OF  INDEMNITIES. 

But,  then,  you  retort,  there  is  a  sad  infirmity  in- 
separable from  old  age.  Piety,  however  exalted, 
will  not  remove  this.  Of  all  diseases,  this  is  pro- 
verbially the  most  incurable.  Brethren,  we  might 
take  the  high  ground  that  godliness  hath  the  prom- 
ise of  the  life  that  now  is  ;  that  temperance  and  othei 
virtues  prolong  life  and  avert  disease ;  that  the  right- 
eous shall  "  see  good  days ;"  and  that  religion  is  the 
best  of  all  medicines.  But,  fearing  lest  we  should 
be  charged  with  exaggeration  by  the  inexperienced, 
we  will  pitch  our  cause  on  a  lower  plane,  and  rest 
content  with  declaring  that  Christian  confidence  and 
iiope  confer  a  strength  which  is  perfectly  compati- 


16  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

ble  with  all  this  bodily  weakness,  decay,  and  pain. 
Christianity,  my  readers,  is  a  system  of  indemnities. 
It  does  not  insure  us  exemption  from  all  losses,  but  * 
it  guarantees  that  these  shall  be  more  than  made 
up  to  us.  True,  the  grand  indemnification  is  at  the 
recompense  of  the  resurrection.  But  prelibations 
of  glory  are  poured  into  the  earthly  vessels  of  grace. 
The  quickening  charm  is  not  natural,  but  supernat- 
ural. Mark,  in  the  twenty-eighth  verse,  how  the 
eternal  increate  fount  of  good  is  pointed  out ;  and 
}earn  how  the  fullness  of  God,  through  a  Mediator, 
becomes  the  available  supply  of  man.  "  Hast  thou 
not  known  ?  hast  thou  not  heard,  that  the  everlast- 
ing God,  Jehovah,  the  creator  of  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary  ?  There  is  no 
searching  of  his  understanding.  He  giveth  power 
TO  THE  FAINT."  Here  is  human  infirmity  brought 
into  connection  with  Omnipotence.  Here  is  the  so- 
lution of  Paul's  enigma,  "  When  I  am  weak,  then 
am  I  strong."  Here  is  Christ's  cordial  to  the  aged, 
"  My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."  But 
let  us  return  to  our  prophet.  He  represents  even 
blooming  adolescence  as  desponding,  while  the  fee- 
ble are  made  powerful  by  faith.  "  Even  the  youths 
shall  faint  and  be  weary,  and  the  young  men  shall 
utterly  fall ;  but  they  that  wait  on  the  Lord  shall 
renew  their  strength." 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  17 

THE  JOY  OF  THE  LORD  THE  STRENGTH  OF  AGE. 

In  the  return  from  Babylon  the  oldest  were  sad- 
dest, for  they  remembered  the  glory  of  the  first 
house,  Nehemiah,  therefore,  had  peculiar  reference 
to  them  when  he  said  to  the  weeping  assembly, 
"  Neither  be  ye  sorry,  for  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is 
your  strength."  Holy  joy  is  a  spring-head  of  re- 
newed youthfulness.  The  effects  of  grief  and  age 
are  not  unlike.  How  often  have  we  seen  a  friend 
go  into  the  house  of  mourning  young  and  come  out 
old  ?  Such  was  David's  experience  (Psalm  xxxii., 
3) :  "  My  bones  w^axed  old,  through  my  moaning  all 
the  day  long ;  for  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy 
upon  me  :  my  moisture  is  turned  into  the  draught  of 
summer."  The  cedars  and  palms  of  the  sanctuary, 
planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  "  shall  still  bring 
forth  fruit  in  old  age ;  they  shall  be  fat  and  flourish- 
ing" (Psalm  xcii.).  Make  a  soul  thoroughly  glad, 
and  you  make  it  young.  The  effusion  of  divine  joys 
has  virtues  to  annul  outward  disabilities.  For  ob- 
serve the  perfect  analogy  of  another  passage  con- 
cerning strength  (Isaiah  xxxv.)  :  "  Strengthen  ye  the 
weak  hands,  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees ;  say  to 
them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart,  Be  strong,  fear  not !" 
"  Then  shall  the  lame  man  leap  as  an  hart,  and  the 
tongue  of  the  dumb  shall  sing."     Such  is  grace,  su- 


18.  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

perseding  nature,  conciliating  contraries,  making  the 
feeble  mighty,  and  giving  youth  to  the  aged.  And 
oh  how  greatly  would  our  experience  and  observa- 
tion of  the  gift  be  increased  if,  with  higher  faith  and 
expectation,  we  were  waiting  upon  God  ! 

The  antechamber  of  the  eternal  abode  is  cold  and 
appalling  to  nature.  This  makes  old  age  unwel- 
come to  the  unprepared.  This  causes  the  wretched 
shifts  by  which  they  avert  the  thought  of  doom.  So 
successful  is  the  delusion,  that  the  man  of  seventy 
plans  for  to-morrow  as  if  he  were  not  already  in 
many  senses  dead.  No  man  is  so  old,  says  Cicero, 
but  that  he  thinks  he  may  live  another  day.  And 
so  from  day  to  day,  as  by  stepping-stones  in  the 
turbid  stream,  they  totter  on,  till  the  sudden  fall 
plunges  them  into  eternity. 

THE  FEAR  OF  DEATH. 

The  fear  of  death,  which  on  the  young  sometimes 
works  salutary  reflection,  often  becomes  to  the  aged 
a  motive  for  abstracting  the  thoughts  from  the  hate- 
ful subject,  and  so  they  think  of  something  else,  and 
are  damned.  I  dare  not  undertake  to  say  what  may 
be  the  reflections  of  the  old  worldling  when  he  lies 
down  for  the  last  struggle,  and  finds  that  eternity  is 
dawning  on  his  soul,  and  yet  that  he  has  not  made 
the  least  provision  for  meeting  his  God.    But  I  know, 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  19 

for  I  have  often  seen,  how  strong  in  faith  and  hope 
may  be  the  old  age  of  the  true  Christian.  After  all, 
it  is  celestial  hojpe  which  sheds  the  dew  of  youth  on 
his  silver  locks.  His  posture  is  that  of  waiting,  as 
watchers  expect  the  dawn — "more  than  they  that 
watch  for  the  morning."  Fresh  blood  seems  to 
course  through  these  outworn  arteries  as  Hope 
waves  the  hand  of  indication  toward  perpetual  spring 
and  everlasting  youth.  Not  in  the  mere  elysian  or 
Mohammedan  sense,  though  we  deny  the  attributes 
and  enjoyments  of  that  bodily  complement  of  the 
soul  which  is  to  be  raised  in  incorruption,  in  glory, 
in  power,  a  spiritual  body.  But  the  fresh  breath  of 
knowledge,  of  reason,  of  truth,  therefore  of  beauty, 
of  love,  of  universal  hohness,  is  wafted  from  those 
gardens  to  the  ancient  believer,  as  he  worships, 
leaning  on  the  top  of  his  staff,  and  sojourns  a  little 
in  the  land  of  Beulah.  We  have  sometimes  seen 
the  clearness  and  vigor  of  former  years  come  back. 
Call  not  that  man  old  who  is  full  of  joys  and  halle- 
lujahs, and  who  is  eager  to  drop  the  clog,  shuffle 
off  the  mortal  coil,  and  soar  like  a  bird  set  free  from 
the  snare  of  the  fowler.  Call  him  old  who  is  invet- 
erate in  sin  ;  who  never  prays  ;  who  dares  not  think 
of  death ;  who  is  without  God  and  without  hope, 
and  on  whose  hoary  head  no  blessing  ever  descends. 
The  Simeon  who  has  Christ  in  his  arms,  has  in  him 


20  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

a  well  of  water  springing ;  and  so  the  true  fountain 
of  youth.  All  believing  and  sublime  exercises  of 
Christian  experience  have  in  them  something  as 
fresh  as  childhood.  Once,  when  I  was  supporting 
a  very  aged  believer  from  the  house  of  God,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said,  "  I  never  felt  younger ;  and 
I  believe  that  promise  is  fulfilled  in  me, '  He  satis- 
fieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things,  so  that  thy  youth 
is  renewed  like  the  eagle's.' "  This  persuasion,  that 
true  religion  brings  the  soul  into  fellowship  with  all 
that  is  free,  hopeful,  and  advancing  in  earth,  and  all 
that  is  bright  and  perfect  in  heaven,  led  the  most 
distinguished  of  late  German  theologians,  Schleier- 
macher,  to  say,  in  the  close  of  a  long  life,  "  The  true 
Christian  is  always  young." 

Tim  SUBURBS  OF  HEAVEN. 

The  racy  old  English  of  John  Bunyan  best  sets 
forth  this  stage  of  pilgrimage.  Here  they  heard 
continually  the  singing  of  birds,  and  saw  every  day 
the  flowers  appear  in  the  earth,  and  heard  the  voice 
of  the  turtle  in  the  land.  In  this  country  the  sun 
shineth  night  and  day.  Here  they  were  within 
sight  of  the  city  they  were  going  to :  also  they  met 
some  of  the  inhabitants  thereof;  for  in  this  land  the 
shining  ones  commonly  walked,  because  it  was  upon 
the  borders  of  heaven.     In  this  land,  also,  the  con- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENTING  TIME.  21 

tract  between  the  Bride  and  Bridegroom  was  re- 
newed ;  yea,  here,  "  as  the  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over 
the  bride,  so  doth  their  God  rejoice  over  them." 
My  beloved  brethren,  we  must  be  submissive  to 
God's  will,  even  if  such  an  evening  of  life  be  not 
vouchsafed  to  us.  Yet  I  will  maintain  that  it  is  of 
the  nature  of  Christianity  to  produce  such  joys. 
The  exceptions  are  not  from  grace,  but  from  dis- 
turbing causes  in  our  partially  unsanctified  hearts. 
Waiting  on  God  is  directly  promotive  of  fresh  and 
heavenly  strength.  The  long -continued  practice 
and  rooted  habit  of  waiting  upon  God,  in  confidence 
and  expectation,  are  the  best  preparative  for  a  se- 
rene decline  and  a  happy  end. 

THE  WORLDLING'S  NOTION  OF  DEATH. 

If  the  sentiment  of  the  world  may  be  safely  judged 
from  its  reflection  in  the  mirror  of  the  fictitious  lit- 
erature which  is  seized  with  most  avidity  and  re- 
produced in  the  greatest  number  of  languages,  then 
unquestionably  the  opinion  is  that  there  is  no  hap- 
piness in  evangelical  piety,  and  an  old  age  of  relig- 
ion is  one  of  sourness,  vindictiveness,  and  misan- 
thropic woe.  Let  the  picture  of  a  Christian  matron 
be  painted  by  the  matchless  pencil  of  one  whose 
misfortune  it  must  have  been  never  to  have  beheld 
the  original,  and  with  whom  devotion  and  hypocrisy 


22  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

are  the  same,  and  the  Hneaments  are  such  as  these : 
"  Great  need  had  the  rigid  woman  of  her  mystical 
rehgion,  veiled  in  gloom  and  darkness,  with  light- 
nings of  cursing,  vengeance,  and  destruction  flash- 
ing through  the  sable  clouds."  I  quote  from  the 
ignorant  and  malignant  travesty  of  Christian  old 
age,  which  mars  the  most  widely  current  story  of 
the  hour ;  and  I  quote  it  because  it  will  meet  re- 
sponse in  hundreds  of  thousands  who  need  the 
grace  of  Christ  to  avert  these  very  storm-clouds  of 
declining  day.  Let  a  holier  literature  prevail  in  the 
refined  world — a  literature  which  shall  honor  holy 
wedlock,  family  religion,  and  the  Church  of  Christ — 
and  we  shall  behold  other  portraitures  of  the  wife 
or  the  widow  upon  whom  evangelical  truth  has  shed 
its  dews  of  eventide. 


THE  HOARY  HEAD  A  CEO  WN  OF  GL OR Y. 

While  we  call  old  age  the  winter  of  our  life,  we 
must  beware  lest  we  derogate  from  the  bounty  of 
our  Maker,  and  disparage  those  blessings  which  he 
accounts  precious,  among  which  old  age  is  none  of 
the  meanest. 

Had  he  not  put  that  value  upon  it,  would  he  have 
honored  it  with  his  own  style,  calling  himself  the 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  23 

"  Ancient  of  Days  ?"  Would  he  have  set  out  this 
mercy  as  a  reward  of  obedience  to  himself,  "I  would 
fulfill  the  number  of  thy  days  ?"  and  of  obedience  to 
our  parents, "  To  live  long  in  the  land  ?"  Would 
he  have  promised  it  as  a  marvelous  savor  to  re- 
stored Jerusalem,  now  become  a  city  of  Truth,  that 
"there  shall  yet  old  men  and  old  women  dwell  in 
the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and  every  man  with  his 
staff  in  his  hand  for  every  age  ?"  Would  he  else 
have  denounced  it  as  a  judgment  to  over-indulgent 
Eli,  "  There  shall  not  be  an  old  man  in  thy  house 
forever  ?"  Far  be  it  from  us  to  despise  that  which 
God  doth  honor,  and  to  turn  his  blessing  into  a 
curse. 

Yea,  the  same  God  who  knows  best  the  price  of 
his  own  favors,  as  he  makes  no  small  estimation  of 
age  himself^  so  he  hath  thought  fit  to  call  for  a  high 
respect  to  be  given  to  it,  out  of  a  holy  awe  to  him- 
self: "  Thou  shalt  rise  up  before  the  hoary  head, 
and  honor  the  face  of  the  old  man,  and  fear  thy  God. 
I  am  the  Lord."  Hence  it  is  that  he  hath  pleased 
to  put  together  the  "  ancient"  and  the  "  honorable," 
and  has  told  us  that  a  hoary  head  is  a  crown  of 
glory,  if  it  be  found  in  the  way  of  righteousness  ; 
and,  lastly,  makes  it  an  argument  of  the  deplored 
estate  of  Jerusalem  that  "  they  favored  not  the  eld- 
ers."— Joseph  Hall. 


24  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


AT  EVENING  TIME  IT  SHALL  BE  LIGHT. 

13Y    REV.  A.  K.  H.  BOYD. 

The  day  of  life,  shall  we  think,  is  drawing  to  its 
close.  It  has  been,  on  the  whole,  a  sober  day,  with 
"  the  lioht  not  clear  nor  dark ;"  there  has  been  neither 
unvarying  sunshine  nor  unvarying  gloom ;  there 
have  been,  no  doubt,  some  great  trials  in  it,  and  a  host 
of  little,  insect  cares,  which  do  no  worse  than  fret 
and  annoy ;  it  has  seemed,  perhaps,  a  dull  and  weary 
thing,  yet  we  have  grown  to  hke  even  its  dullness 
and  commonness ;  it  has  had  within  it  times  of  spe- 
cial elevation,  love  to  the  Redeemer,  trust  in  God ; 
and  it  has  had,  too,  its  seasons  of  backsliding,  of 
coldness  and  worldliness,  of  lack  of  interest  in  spir- 
itual engagements,  of  despondency,  and  almost  of 
despair.  For  the  day  of  grace  goes  by  just  such 
rules  as  the  day  of  providence,  and,  save  a  few 
blessed  and  memorable  believers,  who  have  seemed 
to  breathe  the  air  of  heaven  even  while  they  lived 
on  earth,  it  is  the  general  experience  of  even  the 
earnest  believer  that  his  inward  feeling,  like  his  out- 
ward lot,  is  a  checkered  one,  is  in  the  main  a  sobered 
one — is  shone  upon  by  a  light  which  is  "not  clear 
nor  dark."     But  the    evening   of  the  long  day  is 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  25 

drawing  on  at  length  —  the  day  that  dawned  with 
the  sunny  cheerfuhiess  of  infancy  and  childhood, 
that  went  on  amid  the  growing  cares  of  maturity, 
that  sloped  westerly  amid  the  enfeebled  powers  and 
the  flagging  hopes  of  age ;  and  as  the  evening  ad- 
vances, as  the  hours  go  on  in  which  the  light  that 
had  lasted  through  the  day  might  naturally  grow 
less,  strange  how  it  oftentimes  is  that  that  unwea- 
ried light  does  but  beam  brighter  and  clearer  !  It 
was  but  a  cloudy  day ;  but  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness has  broken  through  the  clouds ;  the  flaming 
west  is  all  purple  and  gold ;  it  is  the  evening  time, 
and  oh  how  fair  its  light !  It  has  sometimes  been, 
as  in  that  beautiful  story,  that  the  last  steps  before 
the  dark  river  was  reached  lay  through  the  land  of 
Beulah ;  that  already  the  brightness  of  the  golden 
city  shone  from  afar  upon  the  believer's  face,  and 
his  sharpened  ear  could  almost  catch  the  fall  of  its 
ceaseless  songs.  I  do  not  say  that  such  a  thing  is 
common ;  all  I  say  is  that  such  a  thing  has  been, 
and  wherefore  should  it  not  be  again  with  you  or 
me  ?  I  shall  not  pretend  to  describe  this  happy 
state  in  my  own  words ;  I  shall  tell  you  about  it  in 
the  words  of  one  who  spoke  from  his  own  experi- 
ence, and  who,  shortly  before  he  died,  wrote  as  thus  : 
"  Were  I  to  adopt  the  figurative  language  of  Bun- 

yan,  I  might  date  this  letter  from  the  land  of  Beu- 

C 


26  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

lah,  of  which  I  have  been  for  some  weeks  a  happy 
inhabitant.  The  Celestial  City  is  full  in  my  view. 
Its  glories  have  been  upon  me,  its  breezes  fan  me, 
its  odors  are  wafted  to  me,  its  sounds  strike  upon 
my  ears,  and  its  spirit  is  breathed  into  my  heart. 
Nothing  separates  me  from  it  but  the  river  of  death, 
which  now  appears  but  as  an  insignificant  rill,  that 
may  be  crossed  at  a  single  step  whenever  God  shall 
give  permission.  The  Sun  of  Righteousness  has 
been  gradually  drawing  nearer  and  nearer,  appear- 
ing larger  and  brighter  as  he  approached,  and  now 
he  fills  the  whole  hemisphere,  pouring  forth  a  flood 
of  glory,  in  which  I  seem  to  float  hke  an  insect  in 
the  beams  of  the  sun ;  exulting,  yet  almost  trem- 
bling, while  I  gaze  on  this  excessive  brightness,  and 
wondering  with  unutterable  wonder  why  God  should 
deign  thus  to  shine  upon  a  sinful  worm."  There, 
my  readers,  are  words  dictated  by  experience.  That 
is  what  was  actually  written  by  a  dying  man.  And 
oh  !  what  need  I  add  to  it  to  make  you  feel  how  glo- 
rious a  sermon  it  is  upon  the  blessed  promise  that 
"  at  the  evening  time  there  shall  be  light." 

But  then  you  will  say  to  me,  and  say  it  truly,  that 
it  is  not  always  so.  Not  only  is  it  not  the  case  that 
all  who  have  "  died  the  death  of  the  righteous"  have 
thus  tranquilly,  fearlessly,  hopefully,  triumphantly 
passed  away,  but  has  not  such  a  thing  been  known 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  27 

as  that  one  who  was  a  true  Christian,  if  true  Chris- 
tian ever  breathed,  died  absolutely  in  despair  ?  Oh, 
who  can  forget  the  story  of  that  sweet  and  gentle 
poet,  who  would  take  nothing  to  himself  at  the  last 
of  the  comfort  his  words  have  given  to  others ; 
whose  latest  lines  sadly  tell  us  how  his  soul  was 
whelmed  in  deeper  than  Atlantic  depths ;  who  re- 
garded himself  as  doomed  to  everlasting  perdition, 
and  who  shuddered  at  the  very  mention  of  the  name 
of  that  blessed  Redeemer  who  was  looking  down  in 
kindness  upon  his  wayward  child  !  But,  then,  let  me 
remind  you  that,  fine  as  was  that  poet's  mind,  it  was 
a  mind  unhinged  and  deranged ;  and  however  the 
Holy  Spirit  works  upon  the  renewed  soul,  he  no 
more  sets  himself  to  cure  hereditary  diseases  of  the 
mind  than  those  of  the  body.  Religion  does  not 
alter  temperament :  it  leaves  the  cheerful  man  cheer- 
ful ;  it  leaves  the  anxious,  desponding  man  still  prone 
to  look  at  the  future  through  the  haze  of  anxiety 
and  fear.  It  no  more  pretends  to  cure  that  hered- 
itary taint,  that  overshadowing  gloom  that  all  his 
life  had  its  grasp  of  Cowper's  mind,  than  it  pretends 
to  weed  out  the  family  consumption  or  apoplexy 
from  the  Christian's  body ;  and  never  let  us  forget 
that  constitutional  temperament,  and  the  depressing 
influence  of  many  forms  of  disease,  may  make  dark 
and  distressful  the  dying-bed  of  the  very  best  be- 


28  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

lievers.  Perhaps,  even  with  true  Christians,  the 
death  is  as  the  hfe  was,  the  evening  is  what  the  day 
was — "not  clear  nor  dark" — as  the  general  rule. 
There  are  blessed  hopes,  but  there  are  also  distress- 
ing fears.  And  shall  we  say,  then,  that  this  text 
does  not  speak  truth  ?  No,  far  from  that.  The 
light  does  come,  and  it  comes  at  evening ;  but  even- 
ing is  the  close  of  day,  and  the  light  may  perhaps 
not  beam  forth  until  the  day  has  entirely  closed. 
Not  upon  this  side  of  time  may  the  blessed  promise 
find  its  fulfillment.  The  foot  may  be  dipped  in  the 
chill  dark  river  before  the  heavenly  light  has  shone 
upon  the  face.  The  eye  may  be  blind  to  dearest 
faces  and  forms  ere  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
dawns,  as  in  the  natural  world  the  darkest,  coldest 
hour  is  that  before  the  daybreak.  The  tongue  may 
never  be  able  to  tell  surviving  loved  ones  how  the 
shadows  fled  away  when  the  dark  valley  was  past 
till  they  have  passed  that  darkness  too.  Yes,  to  the 
believer,  true  as  God  liveth,  "  at  the  evening  time 
there  shall  be  light ;"  if  not  in  this  world,  then  in  a 
better !  Bowing  his  head  to  pass  under  the  dark 
portal,  the  believer  lifts  it  up  on  the  other  side  in 
the  presence  and  the  light  of  God.  It  is  but  a  sin- 
gle step  from  the  darkness  of  death  into  the  light 
of  immortality ;  and  if  the  evening  should  remain 
gloomy  to  its  very  end,  all  the  brighter  will  seem 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  29 

the  glory  when  the  latest  breath  has  parted.  I  told 
you  how  that  Christian  poet  passed  away  almost  in 
despair ;  how  the  gloom  that  overshadowed  his  spirit 
endured  all  but  to  the  end ;  but  even  in  the  last  mo- 
ment there  came  a  wonderful  change,  and  they  tell 
us  how  even  on  his  dead  face  there  remained,  till  it 
w  as  hidden  forever,  a  look  of  bright,  and  beautiful, 
and  sudden  surprise ;  the  light  at  evening  had  been 
long  in  coming,  but  oh !  it  had  come  at  last. 

There  is  something  very  touching  about  the  story 
of  that  eminent  teacher,  the  most  eminent  of  his 
time,  who,  when  his  mind  wandered  in  the  weak- 
ness of  the  dying  hour,  fancied  himself  among  his 
pupils,  engaged  in  his  accustomed  work,  and  whose 
last  words,  when  the  shadow  of  death  was  falling 
deeper,  were,  "  It  grows  dark,  boys  ;  you  may  go." 
There  is  something  touching,  too,  in  the  parting 
scene  of  that  great  poet,  dying  as  the  sun  was  go- 
ing down  in  its  summer  glory,  who  bade  his  friends 
raise  him  that  he  might  see  the  light  once  more — 
open  the  window  that  he  might  look  upon  the  set- 
ting sun  again  before  his  eyes  should  close  upon 
the  earthly  light  forever.  And  very  strange  it  is, 
indeed,  to  stand,  as  some  of  us  may  have  stood,  in 
the  chamber  of  death,  and  in  the  west  to  see  the 
summer  sunset  blazing,  and  the  golden  rays  shining 
upon  the  still  face  and  the  closed  eyes  which  never 


30  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

shall  open  more  till  the  sun  has  ceased  to  shine. 
But  it  is  only  to  us  who  remain  that  the  evening 
darkness  is  growing — only  for  us  that  the  sun  is 
going  down.  Oh,  look  on  the  fixed  features  of  that 
disciple  now  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  think,  as  the 
prophet  spake,  "  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down, 
neither  shall  thy  moon  withdraw  itself,  for  the  Lord 
shall  be  thine  everlasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy 
mourning  shall  be  ended."  And  oh  !  my  readers,  tell 
me,  as  the  evening  falls  on  you,  but  not  on  him ;  as 
the  shadows  deepen  on  you,  but  not  on  him ;  as  the 
darkness  gathers  on  you,  but  not  on  him,  if  now,  at 
last,  the  glorious  promise  has  not  found  its  perfect 
fulfillment,  that  "  at  the  evening  time  there  shall  be 
light." 


''REMEMBER  LOTS  WIFE:' 
The  disobedience  of  Lot's  wife  was  not  that  she 
went  to  Sodom,  but  that  she  looked  back.  Doubt- 
less she  verily  thought  that  she  was  pressing  unto 
safety ;  but  her  heart  was  not  right  in  her.  She 
was  disobedient  in  will,  and  in  the  hankerings  and 

longings  of  the  mind She  looked  back,  and 

that  forbidden  gaze  betrayed  a  multitude  of  un- 
chastened  thoughts  and  a  world  of  disobedience. — 
H.  E.  Manning. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  31 

OLD  A  GE.     {A  PARABLE) 

Siegfried,  a  farmer  of  ninety  years  of  age,  sat 
in  his  arm-chair,  and  saw  not  the  day,  for  he  was 
Wind ;  jei  he  was  patient,  and  thought,  "  Soon  will 
the  day  of  my  redemption  appear."  It  was  now 
spring. 

His  grandson,  Herman,  came  out  of  the  field,  and 
with  joy  told  the  old  man  of  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
year  and  the  hopefulness  of  the  crops. 

The  old  farmer  asked, "  Have  the  trees  already 
put  forth  their  leaves  ?"  The  youth  wondered  at 
the  question,  and  replied,  "  Long  ago,  dear  grandpa. 
Yesterday  I  brought  you  a  twig  of  blossoms,  and  a 
rose  too." 

Siegfried  smiled  and  said,  "  Yes,  my  dear  son, 
your  yesterday  and  to-day  are  no  more  for  me ; 
and  your  flowers  have  lost  their  fragrance  for  me." 
Afterward  he  asked,  "  Do  the  nightingales  and  larks 
sing  ? '  The  youth  leaned  down  to  him,  for  he  was 
deaf]  and  said,  "  Yes,  dear  grandpa ;  shall  I  not  take 
you  into  the  garden  ?" 

The  old  man  smiled,  saying,  "If  you  can  lend  me 
also  your  hearing ;  otherwise  of  what  use  will  it  be 
to  me  to  be  taken  out  ?"  A  little  after  he  said,  "  Go 
you  out  again,  and  bring  me  little  Trude,  that  some 
one  may  be  with  me  in  my  dark  room."    The  youth 


32  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

replied,  with  faltering  voice,  "  Ah  !  dearest  grandpa, 
Trude  is  not  at  home." 

"Where  is  she,  then,  the  dear  child  ?"  asked  Sieg- 
fried ;  and  the  young  man  replied,  with  choked 
voice,  "She  has  been  buried  three  months."  The 
old  man  smiled  and  wept  at  the  same  time,  and  said, 
"  Oh,  yes ;  she  is  already  at  home,  and  it  is  time  I 
follow  her." 

When  the  mother  of  the  house,  the  old  man's 
daughter,  who  had  come  into  the  chamber,  heard 
this,  she  fell  on  the  neck  of  the  blind  father,  and  wet 
his  eyes  with  her  tears ;  and  Herman  wept  too,  and 
took  the  old  man's  hand. 

Siegfried  then  raised  himself  up  and  said,  "  Chil- 
dren, be  not  troubled,  and  let  it  not  distress  you  that 
the  world  and  time  to  me  have  vanished,  and  I  have 
become  a  child.  How  should  it  be  otherwise  ?  I 
stand  at  the  entrance  of  my  Father's  house,  and  my 
weak  old  age  is  the  infancy  of  eternity ."-^F.  W. 
Krummacher. 


CHRISTIAN  PE  0  GEESS. 

Christian  progress  is  only  possible  in  Christ.  It 
is  a  very  lofty  thing  to  be  a  Christian,  for  a  Chris- 
tian is  a  man  who  is  restoring  God's  likeness  to 
his  character,  and  therefore  the   apostle   calls  it  a 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  33 

high  calhng.  High  as  heaven  is  the  calling  where- 
with we  are  called.  But  this  very  height  makes  it 
seem  impracticable.  It  is  natural  to  say,  "All  that 
was  well  enough  for  one  so  transcendently  gifted 
as  Paul  to  hope  for,  but  I  am  no  gifted  man ;  I 
have  no  iron  strength  of  mind ;  I  have  no  sanguine 
hopefulness  of  character ;  I  am  disposed  to  look  on 
the  dark  side  of  things ;  I  am  undetermined,  w  eak, 
vacillating ;  and  then  I  have  a  whole  army  of  pas- 
sions and  follies  to  contend  with."  We  have  to 
remind  such  men  of  one  thing  they  have  forgotten, 
It  is  the  high  calling  of  God,  if  you  will ;  but  it  is 
the  hioh  callinf?  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  What  the 
world  calls  virtue  is  a  name  and  a  dream  without 
Christ.  The  foundation  of  all  human  excellence 
must  be  laid  deep  in  the  blood  of  the  Redeemer's 
cross  and  in  the  power  of  his  resurrection.  First 
let  a  man  know  that  all  his  past  is  wrong  and  sin- 
ful, then  let  him  fix  his  eye  on  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ  loving  him,  even  him  the  guilty  one.  Is 
there  no  strength  in  that  ?  no  power  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  all  that  is  gone  by  is  gone,  and  that  a 
fresh,  clear  future  is  open  ?  It  is  not  the  progress 
of  virtue  that  God  asks  for,  but  progress  in  saint- 
liness,  empowered  by  hope  and  love. — F.W.Rob- 
ertson. 


34  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

SUCH  A  ONE  AS  PA  UL  THE  A  GED. 

And  what  was  Paul  in  the  moment  here  repre- 
sented ?  Verily  an  aged  servant  of  his  Master,  but 
not  retired  from  the  scene  of  action.  Paul,  though 
grown  old  in  the  Lord's  service,  was  still  as  hotly 
engaged  as  ever  in  the  Lord's  battle.  Art  thou 
such  a  one,  my  soul,  as  Paul  w  as  ?  Then  learn 
from  hence  that,  however  many  or  however  heavy 
former  campaigns  have  been,  there  is  no  rest  for 
thee  this  side  Jordan,  no  more  than  for  Paul ;  no 
winter  quarters  for  the  true  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Until  thy  Captain  undress  thee  for  the  grave,  the 
holy  armor  in  which  he  hath  clad  thee  is  not  to  be 
taken  off  Art  thou  such  a  one  as  Paul  the  aofed  ? 
Then,  like  Paul,  see  that  thou  art  strong  in  the  Loi'd, 
and  in  the  power  of  his  might.  And  how  sweet  the 
thought !  Thy  Jesus,  who  hath  borne  thee  from  the 
womb,  and  carried  thee  from  the  belly,  know  s  well 
the  burden  of  thy  increasing  years,  and  all  the  in- 
firmities belonging  to  them,  and  will  carry  both  thee 
and  them.  Yes,  my  soul,  those  very  infirmities  which 
the  tenderest-hearted  friend  sometimes  feels  impa- 
tient at,  and  even  thyself  thou  knowest  not  how  to 
bear,  Jesus  feels,  Jesus  commiserates,  Jesus  will 
soften !  He  that  hath  carried  all  thy  sins,  carrieth 
also  thy  sorrows.     Doth   he  not  say  so  '^     Even 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  35 

to  your  old  age  I  am  he ;  and  even  to  hoar  hairs 
I  will  carry  you.  I  have  made,  and  I  will  bear; 
even  I  will  carry,  and  will  deliver  you  (Isaiah  xlvi., 
3,  4).  Precious  Lamb  of  God !  henceforth  I  cast 
all  my  burdens  upon  thee.  Thou  hast  never  called 
thyself  /  Am  for  nothing.  Thou  hast  indeed  made 
me,  and  new-made  me.  Thou  hast  borne  all  my 
sins  in  thine  own  body  on  the  tree.  Art  thou  not 
both  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  both  the  Author  and 
Finisher  of  my  salvation  ?  Oh,  yes,  thou  hast  been 
every  thing  to  me,  and  for  me,  from  the  womb  of 
creation  ;  borne  me  on  eagles'  wings  ;  made  me, 
and  new-made  me ;  redeemed  me  in  a  thousand  re- 
demptions, and  been  better  to  me  than  all  my  fears ! 
What,  indeed,  hast  thou  not  done  for  me  ?  And 
now,  then,  being  such  a  one  as  Paul  the  aged,  shall 
I  now  doubt  or  now  fear  when  every  pain,  and 
every  cross,  and  every  new  assault  from  sin  and 
Satan  bid  me  go  to  Jesus  ?  Oh  !  for  grace  ever  to 
keep  in  view  what  thou  hast  said  and  done,  and 
what  thou  hast  promised.  Yes,  yes,  it  is  enough ; 
Jesus  hath  said,  "  Even  to  your  old  age  I  am  he. 
The  same  I  have  been,. the  same  I  will  ever  be;  I 
will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee."  Shout,  my 
soul,  and  cry  out  Hallelujah !  He  that  hast  been  my 
first  will  be  my  last  —  my  strength,  my  song,  my 
salvation  forever! — Robert  Hawker. 


36  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

HAPPINESS  OF  AGE. 
As  ripe  fruit  is  sweeter  than  green  fruit,  so  is  age 
sweeter  than  youth,  provided  the  youth  were  grafted 
into  Christ.  As  harvest-time  is  a  brighter  time  than 
seed-time,  so  is  age  brighter  than  youth — that  is,  if 
youth  were  a  good  seed-time  for  good.  As  the 
completion  of  a  work  is  more  glorious  than  the  be- 
ginning, so  is  age  more  glorious  than  youth — that 
is,  if  the  foundation  of  the  work  of  God  were  laid  in 
youth.  As  sailing  into  port  is  a  happier  thing  than 
the  voyage,  so  is  age  happier  than  youth — that  is, 
when  the  voyage  from  youth  is  made  with  Christ 
at  the  helm. — J.  Pulsford. 


SIMPLE  FAITH. 
A  Christian  friend,  calHng  upon  a  poor  old  wom- 
an in  Scotland,  found  her  in  great  pain,  and  ex- 
pressed sorrow  at  seeing  her  suffer  so  much.  "  Oh," 
said  Jeannie,  "it's  just  an  answer  to  prayer.  You 
see,  I've  lang  prayed  to  be  conformed  to  the  image 
of  Christ;  and  since  this  is  the  means,  I've  naething 
to  do  wi'  the  choosin'  o'  them.  That's  the  end  I  seek. 
It  is  ours  to  aim  at  meetness  for  his  presence,  and  to 
leave  it  to  his  wisdom  to  do  his  ain  way  wi'  us.  I 
would  rather  suffer  than  sin,  ony  day." — Anon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  37 

JOB.     {A  PARABLE.) 

In  Job's  time  there  lived  a  prophet  of  the  Lord, 
in  the  land  of  Uz,  named  Eliud,  to  whom  came  Jo- 
ram,  a  friend  of  Job,  and  said,  "  The  ways  of  the 
Lord  are  inscrutable  ;  but  wherefore  must  the  right- 
eous suffer  so  much  ?  Behold,  Job  has  lost  all  his 
possessions  and  goods ;  his  children  have  been 
taken  from  him  by  death,  and  those  who  should 
console  him  torment  him  with  reproaches  and  bit- 
ter disease  ;  he  himself  is  afflicted  with  disease,  and 
is  full  of  sores  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  even  to  his 
head." 

"  The  hand  of  the  Lord  has  touched  him,"  an- 
swered the  prophet. 

"  And  yet,"  pronounced  Joram,  "  Job  is  pious,  and 
fears  God  more  than  any  one  in  the  land.  Did  he 
not  save  the  oppressed  when  they  cried  unto  him, 
and  the  orphan  who  had  none  to  help  ?  Was  he 
not  a  father  to  the  poor,  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet 
to  the  lame  ?  Righteousness  was  his  garment ;  and 
the  eye  that  saw  him  blessed  Job,  and  pronounced 
him  happy." 

"Blessed  is  the  man  whom  the  Almighty  disci- 
plines," answered  the  prophet. 

"  Is  not,  then,  the  Almighty  also  the  All-merciful  T 
said  Joram.     "Wherefore  did  he  need  discipline, 


38  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

who,  converting  God's  gifts  so  kindly  into  blessings, 
maintained  a  godly  walk  and  conversation  before 
all  the  world  ?" 

"  That  he  might  also  have  a  conscience  void  of 
offense  before  God,"  answered  the  prophet. 

"  What  other  offering  could  Job  yet  bring  to 
him  ?"  asked  Joram. 

"  The  most  difficult  and  most  valuable,"  answered 
the  prophet — "  his  will." — F.  W.  Krummacher. 


BEACHING  FORWARD. 
Let  each  man  put  this  question  to  himself:  "Dare 
I  look  on  ?"  With  an  earnest  Christian,  it  is  reach- 
ing forth  to  those  things  which  are  before.  Prog- 
ress ever.  And  then,  just  as  we  go  to  rest  in  this 
world  tired,  and  wake  up  fresh  and  vigorous  in  the 
morning,  so  does  the  Christian  go  to  sleep  in  the 
world's  night,  weary  with  the  work  of  life,  and  then 
on  the  resurrection-day  he  wakes  in  his  second  and 
his  brighter  morning.  It  is  well  for  a  believer  to 
look  on.  Dare  you  ?  Remember,  out  of  Christ,  it 
is  not  wisdom,  but  madness  to  look  on.  You  must 
look  back,  for  the  longest  and  best  day  is  cither 
past  or  passing.  It  will  be  winter  soon — desolate, 
uncheered,  hopeless  winter ;  old  age,  with  its  drear- 
iness, and  its   disappointments,  and  its    querulous 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME,  39 

broken-heartedness ;  and  there  is  no  second  spring 
for  you,  no  resurrection  -  morning  blessedness  to 
dawn  on  the  darkness  of  your  grave.  God  has  only 
one  method  of  salvation,  "  the  Cross  of  Christ."  God 
can  have  only  one ;  for  the  Cross  of  Christ  means 
death  to  evil,  life  to  good.  There  is  no  other  way 
to  salvation  but  that,  for  that  in  itself  is,  and  alone 
is,  salvation.  Out  of  Christ,  therefore,  it  is  woe  to 
the  man  who  reaches  forth  to  the  things  which  are 
before.  To  such  I  say,  ''My  unhappy  brethren, 
Omnipotence  itself  can  not  change  the  darkness 
of  your  destiny." — F.  W.  Robertson. 


THE  WALK  OF  FAITH. 
....  Tms  walk  by  faith  takes  in  all  the  minute 
circumstances  of  every  day's  history  ;  a  walking  ev- 
ery STEP  by  faith,  a  looking  above  trials,  above  ne- 
cessities, above  perplexities,  above  improbabilities, 
above  impossibilities,  above  all  second  causes,  and, 
in  the  face  of  difficulties  and  discouragements,  going 
forward,  leaning  upon  God.  If  the  Lord  were  to  roll 
the  Red  Sea  before  us,  and  marshal  the  Egyptians 
behind  us,  and,  thus  hemming  us  in  on  every  side, 
should  yet  bid  us  advance,  it  would  be  the  duty  and 
the  privilege  of  faith  instantly  to  obey,  believing  that, 
ere  our  feet  touched  the  w^ater,  God,  in  our  extrem- 


40  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

ity,  would  divide  the  sea,  and  take  us  dry-shod  over 
it.  This  is  the  only  holy  and  happy  life  of  a  be- 
liever ;  if  he  for  a  moment  leave  this  path,  and  at- 
tempt to  walk  BY  SIGHT,  difficulties  will  throng  around 
him,  troubles  will  multiply,  the  smallest  trials  will 
become  heavy  crosses,  temptations  to  depart  from 
the  single  and  upright  path  will  increase  in  number 
and  power,  the  heart  will  sicken  at  disappointment, 
the  spirit  will  be  grieved,  and  God  will  be  disap- 
pointed.— Mary  Winslow. 


"  ONE  IN  CHRIST:' 

I  HAVE  seen  a  field  here  and  a  field  there  stand 
thick  with  corn ;  a  hedge  or  two  has  separated  them. 
At  the  proper  seasons  the  reapers  entered  ;  soon  the 
earth  was  disburdened,  and  the  grain  was  conveyed 
to  its  destined  resting-place,  where,  blended  together 
in  the  barn  or  in  the  stack,  it  could  not  be  known 
that  a  hedge  had  ever  separated  this  corn  from  that. 
Thus  it  is  with  the  Church.  Here  it  grows,  as  it 
were,  in  different  fields,  and  even,  it  may  be,  separa- 
ted by  different  hedges.  By-and-by,  when  the  har- 
vest is  come,  all  God's  wheat  shall  be  gathered  into 
the  garner,  without  one  single  mark  to  distinguish 
that  once  they  differed  in  outward  circumstantials 
of  form  and  order. — A.  M.  Toplady. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  41 


A  PSALM  FOR  THE  AGED.— THE  LXXIst. 

Ver.  1-3.  The  old  man,  cast  down  by  the  visita- 
tions of  divine  Providence,  appears  before  his  God. 
He  is  supported  by  the  promise  of  the  Lord  that 
those  who  trust  in  him  shall  never  be  put  to  confu- 
sion, and  his  faith,  confirmed  by  the  experience  of 
his  whole  life,  that  the  Lord  is  indeed  a  rock  and  a 
fortress. 

Ver.  4-8.  He  has  a  solid  foundation — the  expe- 
rience of  a  long  life.  He  has  clung  to  faith  and 
hope  throughout  the  entire  period  of  his  existence 
— even  from  his  youth,  when  lightsomeness  presents 
so  powerful  an  obstacle  to  their  exertion.  His  ex- 
perience is  of  an  extraordinary  kind ;  he  is  as  a 
wonder  unto  many  ;  and  the  excellence  of  his  expe- 
rience arises  from  having  sought  in  the  Lord  his 
only  refuge.  He  did  not,  like  most  men,  recognize 
the  hand  of  God  only  when  in  an  extraordinary 
manner  it  became  manifest  in  life,  but  his  eye  of 
faith  regards  the  ordinary  works  of  God  as  miracles. 
The  translation  from  his  mother's  womb  to  the  light 

of  day  is  to  him  an  object  of  praise Is  not 

the  reason  of  our  finding  so  little  to  praise  to  be 
sought  in  our  having  no  eyes  for  his  daily  mercies  ? 
The  Psalmist  has  eyes  for  the  daily  mercies  of  the 


42  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Lord,  and  therefore  his  mouth  is  daily  full  of  the 
praise  of  the  Lord. 

Ver.  9-13.  If  God  did  help  in  the  time  of  youth 
and  manhood,  when  our  own  strength  aided  us  to 
overcome  many  difficulties,  how  much  more  will  Ms 
strength  deliver  us  when  ours  is  gone — especially 
when  the  wicked  challenge  his  mighty  arm!  For 
God  will  never  suffer  it  to  be  said  that  he  forsakes 
those  who  all  their  life  long  have  not  forsaken 
him. 

Ver.  14, 15.  But,  whatever  may  happen,  the  Psalm- 
ist will  not  cease  to  persevere  even  in  the  night  of 
tribulation.  Though  unable  to  proclaim  the  salva- 
tion of  God  as  the  result  of  actual  present  experi- 
ence, he  does  it  hj  faith  and  hope.  He  is  sure  that 
the  continuous  flow  of  his  most  ardent  praise  is  al- 
ways greatly  surpassed  by  his  salvation. 

Ver.  16.  Weak  in  himself,  his  faith  assures  him 
of  strength  through  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God. 
And  as  those  who  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew" 
their  strength,  and  mount  up  with  wrings  as  eagles, 
so  the  old  man  is  seen  walking  in  that  strength 
which  comes  from  above.  The  praise  which  youth 
bestows  on  earthly  goods,  because  still  unacquaint- 
ed with  their  insufficiency,  lies  far  behind  him.  The 
praise  which  manhood,  in  the  proud  consciousness 
of  its  own  strength,  bestows  on  the  strength  of  man. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  43 

he  has  seen  turned  to  shame.  Of  all  things  which 
men  are  wont  to  praise  in  old  age,  one  only  is  left 
as  praiseworthy — the  righteousness  and  goodness 
of  the  Lord.  This  is  the  proper  employment  of 
old  age  ;  the  supports  of  earth  must  diminish  in 
our  estimate  in  the  measure  as  we  recede  from 
them. 

Ver.  17-19.  He  regards  it  as  the  chief  concern 
of  his  life  to  proclaim  the  wondrous  works  of  God ; 
if  spared  any  longer  on  earth,  that  shall  be  the  end 
of  his  life.  Are  there  better  preachers  of  the  works 
of  God  to  be  found  than  hoary  parents  in  the  circle 
of  their  children,  or  grandparents  in  that  of  their 
grandchildren  ? 

Ver.  20,  21.  The  public  sufferings  of  the  nation 
seem  to  have  brought  low  into  the  dust  his  great- 
ness, but  he  hopes  to  share  the  elevation  of  his 
people. 

Ver.  22-24.  We  think  it  a  lovely  sight  to  see  an 
old  man  spend  his  days  in  singing  the  praise  of 
God  with  trembling  lips  to  the  notes  of  the  harp, 
and  there  is  no  more  beauteous  sight  to  God ;  and 
the  notes  of  that  harp  ascend  up  to  the  highest 
heavens.  Faith  did  inspire  the  pious  old  man  with 
his  confidence ;  his  future  songs  of  praise  became 
therefore  the  foundation  of  his  hope. — A.  Tholuck. 


44  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

OBLIVION  OF  THE  PAST. 
Up  to  a  certain  period  of  life  it  is  the  tendency 
of  man  to  look  forward.  There  is  a  marvelous 
prodigality  with  which  we  throw  away  our  present 
happiness  when  we  are  young,  which  belongs  to 
those  who  feel  that  they  are  rich  in  happiness,  and 
never  expect  to  be  bankrupts.  It  almost  seems  one 
of  the  signatures  of  our  immortality  that  w^e  squan- 
der time  as  if  there  were  a  dim  consciousness  that 
we  are  in  possession  of  an  eternity  of  it ;  but  as  we 
arrive  at  middle  age  it  is  the  tendency  of  man  to 
look  back.  To  a  man  of  middle  life,  existence  is 
no  longer  a  dream,  but  a  reality.  He  has  not  much 
more  new  to  look  forward  to,  for  the  character  of 
his  life  is  generally  fixed  by  that  time.  His  profes- 
sion, his  home,  his  occupations  will  be,  for  the  most 
part,  what  they  are  now.  He  will  make  few  new 
acquaintances — no  new  friends.  It  is  the  solemn 
thought  connected  with  middle  age  that  life's  last 
business  is  begun  in  earnest ;  and  it  is  then,  midway 
between  the  cradle  and  the  grave,  that  a  man  begins 
to  look  back,  and  marvels  with  a  kind  of  remorseful 
feeling  that  he  let  the  days  of  youth  go  by  so  half 
enjoyed.  It  is  the  pensive  autumn  feehng ;  it  is  the 
sensation  of  half  sadness  that  we  experience  when 
the  longest  day  of  the  year  is  past,  and  every  day 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  45 

that  follows  is  shorter,  and  the  lights  fainter,  and  the 
feebler  shadows  tell  that  Nature  is  hastening  with 
gigantic  footsteps  to  her  winter  grave.  So  does 
man  look  back  upon  his  youth.  When  the  first 
gray  hairs  become  visible,  when  the  unwelcome 
truth  fastens  itself  upon  the  mind  that  a  man  is  no 
longer  going  up  the  hill,  but  down,  and  that  the  sun 
is  already  westering,  he  looks  back  on  things  be- 
hind. Now  this  is  a  natural  feeling,  but  is  it  the 
high  Christian  feeling  ?  In  the  language  of  the  text 
(Philippians  iii.,  13, 14),  we  may  assuredly  answer 
No.  We  who  have  an  inheritance  incorruptible 
and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  what  have 
we  to  do  with  things  past?  When  we  were  chil- 
dren, we  thought  as  children.  But  now  there  lies 
before  us  manhood,  with  its  earnest  work  ;  and  then 
old  age,  and  then  the  grave,  and  then  home.  And 
so  manhood  in  the  Christian's  life  is  a  better  thing 
than  boyhood,  because  it  is  a  riper  thing ;  and  old 
age  ought  to  be  a  brighter,  and  a  calmer,  and  a 
more  serene  thing  than  manhood.  This  is  a  second 
youth  for  man,  better  and  holier  than  his  first,  if  he 
will  look  on  and  not  back.  There  is  a  peculiar 
simplicity  of  heart  and  a  touching  singleness  of 
purpose  in  Christian  old  age,  which  has  ripened 
gradually  and  not  fitfully.  It  is  then  that  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent  is   added  the  harmlessness 


46  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

of  the  dove;  it  is  then  that  to  the  firmness  of  man- 
hood is  joined  almost  the  gentleness  of  womanhood; 
it  is  then  that  the  somewhat  austere  and  sour  char- 
acter of  growing  strength,  moral  and  intellectual, 
mellows  into  the  rich  ripeness  of  old  age,  made 
sweet  and  tolerant  by  experience ;  it  is  then  theio 
man  returns  to  first  principles.  There  comes  a  love 
more  pure  and  deep  than  the  boy  could  ever  feel; 
there  comes  a  conviction,  with  a  strength  beyond 
that  which  the  boy  could  ever  know,  that  the  ear- 
liest lesson  of  life  is  infinite,  Christ  is  all  in  all. — 
F.  W.  Robertson. 


&U8PEN8E. 
Suspense  has  been  one  of  the  most  trying  features 
of  my  case.  Just  as  I  have  unclasped  my  hand 
from  my  dear  Ernest's ;  just  as  I  have  let  go  my 
almost  frantic  hold  of  my  darling  children ;  just  as 
heaven  opened  before  me,  and  I  fancied  my  weari- 
ness over  and  my  wanderings  done,  just  then  almost 
every  alarming  symptom  would  disappear,  and  life 
recall  me  from  the  threshold  of  heaven  itself  Thus 
I  have  been  emptied  from  vessel  to  vessel,  till  I  have 
learned  that  he  only  is  truly  happy  who  has  no  lon- 
ger a  choice  of  his  own,  and  lies  passive  in  God's 
hands. — Mrs.  E.  Prentiss,  'Stepping  Heavenward^ 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  47 

CHRISTIAN  PEESEVERANCE. 

Then  I  saw  in  my  dream  that  the  Interpreter 
took  Christian  by  the  hand,  and  led  him  into  a  place 
where  was  a  fire  burning  against  a  wall,  and  one 
standing  by  it,  always  casting  much  water  upon  it  to 
quench  it ;  yet  did  the  fire  burn  higher  and  better. 

Then  said  Christian,  "  What  means  this  ?"  The 
Interpreter  answered,  "  This  fire  is  the  work  of 
grace  that  is  wrought  in  the  heart ;  he  that  casts 
water  upon  it  to  extinguish  and  put  it  out  is  the 
devil ;  but  in  that  thou  seest  the  fire,  notwithstand- 
ing, burn  higher  and  better,  thou  shalt  also  see  the 
reason  of  that."  So  he  led  him  about  to  the  back 
side  of  the  wall,  where  he  saw  a  man  with  a  vessel 
of  oil  in  his  hand,  of  which  he  did  also  continually 
cast  (but  secretly)  into  the  fire. 

Then  said  Christian,  "  What  means  this?"  The 
Interpreter  said,  "  This  is  Christ,  who  continually, 
with  the  oil  of  his  grace,  maintains  the  work  already 
begun  in  the  heart,  by  the  means  of  which,  notwith- 
standing what  the  devil  can  do,  the  souls  of  his  peo- 
ple prove  gracious  still.  And  in  that  thou  sawest 
that  the  man  stood  behind  the  wall  to  maintain  the 
fire,  this  is  to  teach  thee  that  it  is  hard  for  the 
tempted  to  see  how  this  work  of  grace  is  main- 
tained in  the  soul. — John  Bunyan. 


48  LIGHT  AT  E VENING  TIME. 

NECESSITY  OF  CHRISTIAN'  PERSEVERANCE. 
No  grace,  no,  not  even  the  most  sparkling  and 
shining  grace,  can  bring  a  man  to  heaven  of  itself 
without  perseverance  ;  not  faith,  which  is  the  cham- 
pion of  grace,  if  it  be  faint  and  fail ;  nor  love,  which 
is  the  nurse  of  grace,  if  it  decline  and  wax  cold  ; 
nor  humility,  which  is  the  adorner  and  beautifier  of 
grace,  if  it  continue  not  to  the  end  ;  not  obedience, 
not  repentance,  not  patience,  no,  nor  any  other 
grace,  except  they  have  their  perfect  work.  It  is 
not  enough  to  begin  well  except  we  end  well.  Ma- 
nasseh  and  Paul  began  ill,  but  ended  well ;  Judas 
and  Demas  began  well,  but  ended  ill.  —  Thomas 
Brooks. 


GOD  UNCHANGEABLE. 
God  asks  no  rest  and  requires  no  slumber,  but 
holds  straight  on  without  weariness;  wearing  out 
the  ages,  himself  unworn ;  changing  all  things,  him- 
self without  variableness  or  shadow  of  turning. 
God  is  like  the  sun  at  noon,  that  casts  down  straight 
rays,  and  so  throws  down  the  shadows  upon  the 
ground  underneath  each  tree  ;  but  he  never,  like  the 
sun,  goes  westward  toward  his  setting,  turning  all 
shadows  from  under  the  trees,  and  slanting  them 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  49 

upon  the  ground.  God  stands  in  eternal  fullness, 
like  a  sun  that  knows  neither  morning,  nor  evening, 
nor  night,  but  only  noon,  and  noon  always. — H.  W. 
Beecher. 


ENDURING  TO  THE  END. 

Think  of  Christ's  appointed  work,  the  greatest 
that  ever  was  to  be  done  on  the  earth ;  so  great  as 
to  be  a  counteraction  to  all  the  sins  of  all  the  saved ! 
and  at  an  awful  cost  of  endurance.  What  toils, 
what  grievances,  what  terrors  (as  to  his  humanity) 
attends  his  mighty  task  !  But  if  he  had  been  "wea- 
ried," and  left  but  one  thing  undone !  If  he  had 
shrunk  and  failed,  what  sensation  in  heaven — hell — 
earth  !  Let  his  followers  advert  to  that  when  tempt- 
ed to  shrink  from  service,  and  to  say  it  is  too  much. 
When  this  repugnance  arises,  go  and  look  at  him ! 
Even  imagine  as  if  any  given  Christian  service 
had  been  to  be  performed  in  his  presence — undei 
his  inspection,  would  you  then  be  weary  ?  He  is  a 
grand,  transcendent  example  to  show  that  a  good 
work  must  be  gone  through  with ;  to  constitute  it 
such,  the  conclusion  is  indispensable  :  "  He  that  en- 
dureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved;"  "He  that  look- 
eth  back  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God." — John 
Foster. 


60  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  nOL  Y  JER  USALE3I. 

Jerusalem,  my  liapj^y  liome, 

Name  ever  dear  to  me, 
"VVlien  shall  my  labors  Lave  an  end, 

In  joy,  and  peace,  and  thee  ? 

When  shall  these  eyes  thy  heaven-built  walls 

And  pearly  gates  behold  ? 
Thy  bulwarks  with  salvation  strong. 

And  streets  of  shining  gold  ? 

There  happier  bowers  than  Eden's  bloom, 

Nor  sin  nor  sorrow  know; 
Bless'd  seats !  through  rude  and  stormy  scenes 

I  onward  press  to  you. 

Why  should  I  shrink  from  pain  and  woe. 

Or  feel  at  death  dismay  ? 
I've  Canaan's  goodly  land  in  view, 

And  realms  of  endless  day. 

Apostles,  martyrs,  prophets  there 

Around  my  Savior  stand ; 
And  soon  my  friends  in  Christ  below 

Will  join  the  glorious  band. 

Jerusalem,  my  happy  home ! 

My  soul  still  pants  for  thee ; 
Then  shall  my  labors  have  an  end 

When  I  thy  joys  shall  see. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  51 

LOOKING  WESTWARD. 

"I  LOVE  the  western  sky,"  said  one  who  was  af- 
flicted in  spirit;  "it  seems  to  carry  my  thoughts 
away  to  another  country  and  a  brighter  morrow." 

There  is  often  something  so  unearthly  about  the 
sky  at  sunset ;  those  golden  rays,  darting  from  be- 
hind the  purple  clouds,  how  full  they  seem  of  hope 
and  promise !  and  on  stormy  evenings,  when  the 
"  sun  sets  weeping,"  and  gives  prospect  of  a  dreary 
day  to  come,  I  love  to  think  of  those  distant  coun- 
tries where  every  day  he  shines  as  yesterday  in 
cloudless  splendor ;  and  the  thought  of  those  distant 
countries  leads  me  onward  to  "  the  land  which  is 
very  far  off,"  where  this  earthly  sun  will  have  ceased 
to  rise  and  set,  and  where  the  glory  of  the  Lord  will 
be  the  light  in  which  we  shall  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being. — Anon. 


TESTIMONY  OF  AN  A  GED  CHRISTIAN 
I  LEAVE  it  as  my  testimony  (writes  Isabella  Gra- 
ham, in  the  sixtieth  year  of  her  age)  that  God  has 
been  a  father  to  the  fatherless,  a  husband  to  the 
widow,  the  stranger's  shield,  and  orphan's  stay. 
Even  to  hoar  years  and  old  age  he  has  carried  mc, 
and  not  one  good  word  has  failed  of  all  that  he  has 


62  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

promised.  "  He  has  done  all  things  well ;"  and  at 
this  day  I  am  richer  and  happier  than  ever  I  was  in 
my  life.  Not  that  I  am  yet  made  free  from  sin ; 
that  is  still  my  burden ;  want  of  love  and  gratitude, 
indolence  in  commanded  duty,  self-will,  and  nestling 
in  the  creature.  But  my  heart's  wish  and  earnest 
desire  is  conformity.  The  bent  of  my  will  is  for 
God,  and,  if  my  heart  deceive  me  not,  my  God  is 
the  centre  of  my  best  affections.  This  God  is  my 
God.  He  will  guide  me  even  unto  death,  through 
death,  and  be  my  portion  through  eternity. 


MILTON  ON  HIS  BLINDNESS. 

When  I  consider  liow  my  light  is  spent 

Ere  half  my  days,  in  this  dark  world  and  wide, 

And  that  one  talent  which  is  death  to  hide, 

Lodg  d  with  me  useless,  though  my  soul  more  bent 

To  serve  therewith  my  Master,  and  present 

My  true  account,  lest  he  return  and  chide : 

"  Doth  God  exact  day-labor,  light  denied  ?" 

I  fondly  ask     But  Patience,  to  prevent 

That  murmur,  soon  rej^lies,  "  God  doth  need 

Neither  man's  work  nor  his  own  gifts ;  who  best 

Bear  his  mild  yoke,  they  serve  him  best :  his  state 

Is  kingly;  thousands  at  his  bidding  speed, 

And  post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest ; 

They  also  serve  ivlio  only  stand  and  wait.'"' — Milton. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  53 

THE  NIGHT-  WA  TCIL 

Watch  ye,  therefore ;  for  ye  know  not  when  the  master 
of  the  house  cometh,  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  the  cock- 
crowing,  or  in  the  morning;  lest  coming  suddenly  he  find 
you  sleeping.  And  what  I  say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all, 
JVatch.—M?irk  xiii.,  35-37- 

The  CImrcli  must  fulfill  her  night-watch.    Wheth- 
er long  or  short,  perilous  or  easy,  she  must  fulfill  it. 
It  is  WATCHING  to  which  she  is  specially  called  ;  and 
sadly  will  she  belie  her  profession,  as  well  as  dis- 
obey her  Lord,  if  she  watches  not.     She  need  not 
think  to   substitute   other  duties  for  this,  as  more 
needful,  more  important,  or  more  in  character.    She 
dare  not  say,  "I  love,  I  believe,  I  pray,  I  praise,  why 
should  I  also  watch  ?     Will  not  these  do  instead 
of  watching,  or  is  not  watching  included  in  these  ?" 
Her  Lord  has  bidden  her  watch,  and  no  other  duty, 
no  other  grace,  can  be  a  substitute  or  excuse  for  this. 
She  is  to  believe ;  but  that  is  not  all — she  is  also 
to  WATCH.     She  is  to  rejoice;  but  that  is  not  all — 
she  is  also  to  watch.     She  is  to  love  ;  but  that  is 
not  all — she  is  also  to  watch.     She  is  to  wait ;  but 
that  is  not  all — she  is  also  to  watch.     She  is  to 
long ;  but  that  is  not  all  —  she  is   also  to  watch. 
This  is  to  be  her  special  attitude,  and  nothing  can 
compensate  for  it.     By  this  she  is  to  be  known  in 


64  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

all  ages  as  the  watching  one.  By  this  the  world  is 
to  be  made  to  feel  the  difference  between  itself  and 
her.  By  this  she  is  specially  to  show  how  truly  she 
feels  herself  to  be  a  stranger  here. 

Men  ask  her,  "  Why  stand  ye  gazing  up  into 
heaven  ?"  Her  reply  is,  "  I  am  watching."  Men 
taunt  her,  and  say,  "  Why  this  unrestfulness  ?"  Her 
reply  is,  "  I  am  watching."  Men  think  it  strange 
that  she  runs  not  with  them  to  the  same  excess  of 
riot  (1  Peter  iv.,  4).  She  tells  them,  "  I  am  watch- 
ing." They  ask  her  to  come  forth  and  join  their 
g'Si^^\"^,  to  come  forth  and  sing  their  songs,  to  come 
forth  and  taste  their  pleasures,  that  thus  they  may 
teach  her  to  forget  her  sorrows.  She  refuses,  say- 
ing, "  I  dare  not ;  I  am  watching."  The  scoffer 
mocks  her,  and  says,  "Where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming  ?"  She  heeds  not,  but  continues  watching, 
and  clasps  her  hope  more  firmly. — H.  Bonar. 


STRENGTH  SUFFICIENT  FOB  THE  DA  T. 

^  On,  ask  not  tliou,  "  How  shall  I  bear 

The  burden  of  to-morrow  ?" 
Sufficient  for  to-day  its  care, 

Its  evil,  and  its  sorrow ; 
God  impartetli  by  the  -way 

Strength  sufficient  for  the  day. — Aiion.  1 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  55 

THE  FINISHING  OF  THE  TEMPLE. 
Suppose,  then,  the  period  arrived  when  the  scaf- 
folding is  struck  down  and  the  rubbish  moved  away; 
that  is,  suppose  this  earth,  which  was  the  stage  for 
its  erection,  now  moved  from  beneath  it,  and  the 
wicked,  the  refuse  of  mankind,  cast  far  away  out  of 
sight.  Conceive  that  you  see  nothing  but  the  build- 
ing. Lo  !  it  stands  high  in  view,  for  the  admiration 
of  the  surrounding  universe.  "  Walk  about  Zion, 
and  go  round  about  her;  tell  the  towers  thereof; 
mark  ye  well  her  bulwarks ;  consider  her  palaces, 
that  ye  may  tell  it  to  the  generation  following." 
What  is  her  foundation  ?  The  Rock  of  Ages  ! 
Who  is  her  inhabitant  ?  Her  inhabitant  is  God ! 
Not  a  flaw  nor  a  blemish  is  to  be  seen;  every  stone 
is  in  its  proper  place,  and  all  contributing  to  the 
beauty  of  the  whole  !  No  want  of  symmetry  in  the 
general  outline  plan,  nothing  imperfect  in  the  exe- 
cution of  each  part.  Behold,  it  stands  an  eternal 
monument  to  the  glory  of  God — of  his  power,  and 
wisdom,  and  grace !  It  is  all  bright  and  glorious, 
wherever  you  take  your  view  of  it ;  radiating  in 
every  part  with  the  beamings  of  divine  glory !  Her 
light  is  like  unto  a  stone  most  precious,  even  like  a 
jasper!  It  is  a  temple  of  souls!  Every  stone  is  a 
living  soul  —  blood-bought  spirit!     Every  one  is  a 


56  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

chosen  warrior,  who  has  fought  his  battle  in  his 
days,  and  has  conquered  !  They  have  come  out 
of  great  tribulation  to  be  stones  for  this  building. 
Affliction  gave  them  their  polish,  and  the  cement 
which  unites  them  is  love. — H.  Martyn. 


MY  TONG  UE  SHALL  SPEAK  OF  THY  PEAISE. 

The  middle,  we  may  observe,  and  the  safest,  and 
the  fairest,  and  the  most  conspicuous  places  in  cities 
are  usually  deputed  for  the  erection  of  statues  and 
monuments  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  worthy  men, 
who  have  nobly  deserved  of  their  country.  In  like 
manner  should  we,  in  the  heart  and  centre  of  our 
soul,  in  the  best  and  highest  apartments  thereof,  in 
the  places  most  exposed  to  ordinary  observation, 
and  most  secure  from  the  invasions  of  worldly  care, 
erect  lively  representations  and  lasting  memorials 
unto  the  divine  bounty ;  constantly  attending  to 
which  we  may  be  disposed  to  gratitude.  Not  one 
blessing,  not  the  least  favorable  passage  of  provi- 
dence, ought  to  perish  with  us,  though  long  since 
passed,  and  removed  out  of  the  sphere  of  present 
sense.  If  a  grateful  affection  lies  in  our  hearts,  it 
will  respire  through  our  mouths,  and  discover  itself 
in  the  motion  of  our  lips.  Neither  shall  we  content 
ourselves  in  lonesome  tunes  and  private  soliloquies 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  57 

to  whisper  out  the  divine  praises,  but  shall  loudly 
excite  and  provoke  others  to  a  melodious  conso- 
nancy  with  us ;  we  shall — we,  the  sweet  singers  of 
Israel — cite  and  invoke  heaven  and  earth,  the  celes- 
tial choir  of  angels,  the  several  estates  and  genera- 
tions of  men,  the  numberless  company  of  all  the 
creatures,  to  assist  and  join  in  concert  with  us  in 
celebrating  the  worthy  deeds,  and  magnifying  the 
glorious  name  of  our  most  mighty  Creator,  of  our 
most  bountiful  Benefactor. — J.  Barrow. 


EVENING  OFTEN  PLEASANTER  THAN  MORNING, 

Oftentimes  we  look  forward  with  forebodings  to 
THE  TIME  OF  OLD  AGE,  foi'gctful  that  at  cvcntide  it 
shall  be  light.  To  many  saints,  old  age  is  the 
choicest  season  of  their  lives.  A  balmier  air  fans 
the  mariner's  cheek  as  he  nears  the  shores  of  im- 
mortality, fewer  waves  ruffle  his  sea,  quiet  reigns 
— deep,  still,  and  solemn.  From  the  altar  of  age 
the  flashes  of  the  fire  of  youth  are  gone,  but  the 
more  real  flame  of  earnest  feeling  remains.  The 
pilgrims  have  reached  the  land  Beulah,  that  happy 
country  whose  days  are  as  the  days  of  heaven  upon 
earth.     Angels  visit  it,  celestial  gales  blow  over  it, 

flowers  of  Paradise  grow  in  it,  and  the  air  is  filled 

E 


58  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

with  seraphic  music.  Some  dwell  here  for  years, 
and  others  come  to  it  but  a  few  hours  before  their 
departure,  but  it  is  an  Eden  upon  earth.  We  may 
well  long  for  the  time  when  we  shall  recline  in  its 
shady  groves,  and  be  satisfied  with  hope  until  the 
time  of  fruition  comes.  The  setting  sun  seems 
larger  than  when  aloft  in  the  sky,  and  a  splendor 
of  glory  tinges  all  the  clouds  which  surround  his 
going  down.  Pain  breaks  not  the  calm  Df  the  sweet 
twilight  of  age,  for  strength  made  perfect  in  weak- 
ness bears  up  with  patience  under  it  all.  Ripe  fruits 
of  choice  experience  are  gathered  as  the  rare  repast 
of  life's  evening,  and  the  soul  prepares  itself  for  rest. 
The  Lord's  people  shall  also  enjoy  light  in  the  hour 
OF  DEATH.  Unbelief  laments ;  the  shadows  fall,  the 
night  is  coming,  existence  is  ending.  Ah !  no,  cries 
faith,  the  night  is  far  spent,  the  true  day  is  at  hand. 
Light  is  come — the  light  of  immortality,  the  light 
of  a  Father's  countenance.  Gather  up  thy  feet  in 
the  bed ;  see  the  waiting  band  of  spirits !  Angels 
waft  thee  away.  Farewell,  beloved  one ;  thou  art 
gone  ;  thou  wavest  thine  hand.  Ah  !  now  it  is  light. 
The  pearly  gates  are  open,  the  golden  streets  shine 
in  the  jasper  light.  We  cover  our  eyes,  but  thou 
beholdest  the  unseen.  Adieu,  brother ;  thou  hast 
light  at  eventide,  such  as  we  have  not  yet. — CHxiRLES 
Spurgeon. 


y^i^<'^n<:::ie^-^tMy  r~~. 


Xm^^ 


^ 


rtl^Z^O'^ 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  59 


TAKING  BEST. 

And  he  cometh  the  third  time^  and  saith  unto  them. 
Sleep  on  now^  and  take  your  rest :  it  is  enough^  the  hour  is 
come ;  behold^  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  into  the  hands 
of  sinners.  Rise  tip,  let  us  go  ;  lo,  he  that  betray eth  me  is 
at  hand. — Mark  xiv.,  41,  42. 

Now,  the  broad  general  lesson  which  we  gain 
from  this  is  not  hard  to  read.  It  is  that  a  Christian 
is  to  be  forever  rousing  himself  to  recognize  the 
duties  which  lie  before  him  now.  In  Christ  the 
motto  is  ever  this  :  "  Let  us  be  going."  Let  me 
speak  to  the  conscience  of  some  one.  Perhaps 
yours  is  a  very  remorseful  past — a  foolish,  frivolous, 
disgraceful,  frittered  past.  Well,  Christ  says,  "  My 
servant,  be  sad,  but  no  languor ;  there  is  work  to  be 
done  for  me  yet.  Rise  up !  be  going !"  Oh,  my 
brethren,  Christ  takes  your  wretched  remnants  of 
life,  the  feeble  pulses  of  a  heart  which  has  spent  its 
best  hours,  not  for  him,  but  for  self  and  for  enjoy- 
ment, and,  in  his  strange  love,  he  condescends  to 
accept  them. 

Wake  to  the  opportunities  that  yet  remain.  Ten 
years  of  life — five  years — one  year — say  you  have 
only  that.  Will  you  sleep  that  away  because  you 
have  already  slept  too  long  ?     Eternity  is   crying 


60  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

out  to  you  louder  and  louder  as  you  near  its  brink, 
"Arise!  be  going."  Count  your  resources;  learn 
what  you  are  not  fit  for,  and  give  up  wishing 
for  it;  learn  what  you  can  do,  and  do  it  with  the 
energy  of  a  man.  That  is  the  great  lesson  of  this 
passage. 

Christ  impressed  two  things  on  his  apostles' 
minds :  1.  The  duty  of  Christian  earnestness — 
"  Rise  !"  2.  The  duty  of  Christian  energy — "  Let 
us  be  going." 

Christ  roused  them  to  earnestness  when  he  said 
"  Rise  !"  A  short,  sharp,  rousing  call.  They  were 
to  start  up  and  wake  to  the  realities  of  their  posi- 
tion. The  guards  were  on  them ;  their  Master  w  as 
about  to  be  led  away  to  doom.  That  was  an  awak- 
ening which  would  make  men  spring  to  their  feet  in 
earnest.  Brethren,  goodness  and  earnestness  are 
nearly  the  same  thing.  In  the  language  in  which 
the  Bible  was  written  there  was  one  word  which 
expressed  them  both  ;  what  we  translate  a  good 
man,  in  Greek  is  literally  "  earnest."  The  Greeks 
felt  that  to  be  earnest  w^as  nearly  identical  with  be- 
ing good.  But,  however,  there  is  a  day  in  life  when 
a  man  must  be  earnest,  but  it  docs  not  follow  that 
he  will  be  good.  "  Behold,  the  Bridegroom  cometh  ; 
go  ye  out  to  meet  him."  That  is  a  sound  that  will 
thunder  throuo^h  the  most  fast-locked  slumber,  and 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  61 

rouse  men  whom  sermons  can  not  rouse.  But  that 
will  not  make  them  holy.  Earnestness  of  life, 
brethren,  that  is  goodness.  Wake  in  death  you 
MUST,  for  it  is  an  earnest  thing  to  die.  Shall  it  be 
this,  I  pray  you  ?  Shall  it  be  the  voice  of  death 
which  first  says  "  Arise !"  at  the  very  moment  when 
it  says  "  Sleep  on  forever  ?"  Shall  it  be  the  bridal 
train  sweeping  by,  and  the  shutting  of  the  doors, 
and  the  discovery  that  the  lamp  is  gone  out  ?  Shall 
THAT  be  the  first  time  you  know  that  it  is  an  earnest 
thinff  to  live  ?  Let  us  feel  that  we  have  been  doing  ; 
learn  what  time  is — sliding  from  you,  and  not  stop- 
ping when  you  stop ;  learn  what  sin  is ;  learn  what 
'never'  is.  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest.  —  F.  W. 
Robertson. 


GOD  OUR  POETIOK 

As  the  scattered  rays  of  light  are  all  included  in 
the  focus,  as  the  fountain  contains  the  streams,  as 
the  object  reflected  is  prior  to  and  nobler  than  the 
different  reflections  of  it,  so  all  finite  and  created 
good  is  contained  in  him  who  is  the  supreme  good ; 
all  earthly'excellence  is  but  the  partial  emanation,  the 
more  or  less  bright  reflection  of  the  Great  Original. 
To  have  a  portion,  therefore,  in  God,  is  to  possess 


62  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

that  which  includes  in  itself  all  created  good.  The 
man  who  is  in  possession  of  some  great  master- 
piece in  painting  or  sculpture  need  not  envy  others 
who  have  only  casts  or  copies  of  it.  The  original 
plate  or  stereotype  is  more  valuable  than  any  im- 
pressions or  engravings  thrown  off  from  it ;  and  he 
who  owns  the  former,  owns  that  which  includes,  is 
capable  of  producing  all  the  latter.  Surveying  the 
wonders  of  creation,  or  even  with  the  Word  of  in- 
spiration in  his  hand,  the  Christian  can  say,  "  Glori- 
ous though  these  things  be,  to  me  belongs  that  which 
is  more  glorious  far.  The  streams  are  precious, 
but  I  have  a  Fountain ;  the  vesture  is  beautiful,  but 
the  Weaver  is  mine  ;  the  portrait  in  its  every  linea- 
ment is  lovely,  but  that  Great  Original,  whose  beau- 
ty it  but  feebly  depicts,  is  mine — my  own.  God  is 
my  portion,  the  Lord  is  mine  inheritance.  To  me 
belongs  all  actual  and  all  possible  good,  all  created 
and  uncreated  beauty,  all  that  eye  hath  seen  or 
imagination  conceived  ;  and  more  than  that,  for  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  hath  it  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  what  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  him.  All  things  and 
beings,  all  that  life  reveals  or  death  conceals,  ev- 
ery thing  within  the  boundless  possibilities  of  cre- 
ating wisdom  and  power,  is  mine,  for  God,  the  Cre- 
ator and  Fountain  of  all,  is  mine." — John  Caird. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  63 


LIVING  B  Y  FAITH. 

My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary, 

Savior  divine ! 
Now  hear  me  while  I  pray ; 
Take  all  my  guilt  away ; 
O  let  me  from  this  day 

Be  wholly  Thine ! 

May  Thy  rich  grace  impart 
Strength  to  my  fainting  heart, 

My  zeal  inspire ! 
As  Thou  hast  died  for  me, 
O  may  my  love  to  Thee 
Pure,  warm,  and  changeless  be, 

A  livins:  fire ! 


While  life's  dark  maze  I  tread 
And  griefs  around  me  spread. 

Be  Thou  my  Guide  ! 
Bid  darkness  turn  to  day, 
Wipe  sorrow's  tear  away, 
Nor  let  me  ever  stray 

From  Thee  aside. 


When  ends  life's  transient  dream, 
When  death's  cold  sullen  stream 


64  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Shall  o'er  me  roll 


> 


Bless' cl  Savior !  then  in  love 
Fear  and  distrust  remove; 
O  bear  me  safe  above, 

A  ransomed  soul. — Kay  Palmer. 


THE  BITTER  WITH  THE  SWEET. 

There  was   once    a   slave    called  ^Esop 

A  courtier,  to  whom  the  king  had  praised  ^sop 
for  his  obedience,  answered,  "  Well  may  he  love 
thee,  for  thou  loadest  him  with  all  he  can  desire  ; 
but  try  him  with  some  painful  thing,  and  then  thou 
wilt  see  what  his  love  is  worth."  Now  in  the 
king's  garden  there  grew  a  nauseous  lemon,  the 
stench  of  which  was  such  that  few  could  bear  to 
approach  it.  The  king  told  JEsop  to  go  and  cut 
one  of  the  lemons,  and  eat  every  bit  of  it.  ^sop 
accordingly  cut  the  fruit,  the  largest  he  could  find, 
and  ate  it  every  bit.  The  wily  courtier  said  to 
him,  "How  can  you  bear  to  swallow  such  a  nau- 
seous fruit  ?"  He  answered,  "  My  dear  master  has 
done  nothing  but  load  me  with  benefits  every  day 
of  my  life,  and  shall  I  not,  for  his  sake,  eat  one 
bitter  fruit  without  complaint,  or  asking  the  reason 
why  ?" — Anon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  65 


MOTIVES  TO  PATIENCE. 

Let  us  consider  the  motives  that  should  persuade 
us  to  be  patient  as   Christians.     Far  as  patience 
inchides  meekness  under  wrongs  of  our  fellow-men, 
we  must  forgive,  or  we  may  not  hope  ourselves  be- 
fore God  to  be  forgiven.     Christ  laid  the  axe  where 
no  earthly  reformer  would  have  dared  to  place  it, 
at  the  root  of  revengefulness.     The  Christian  law 
of  morals  gropes  in  the  heart  of  every  petitioner  oft 
as  he  prays,  and  it  bids  him  pray  without  ceasing. 
We  are  warned  again  that  in  yielding  to  impatience 
and  anger  we  cease  to  possess  our  own  souls ;  and, 
as  is  darkly  intimated,  Satan  takes  hold  of  the  de- 
serted rudder  and  wields  the  ungoverned  helm,  and 
drives  before  him  the  infuriated  and  imbruted  man. 
Cain,  had  he  but  curbed  his  impatient  envy,  need 
not  have  bequeathed  his  name  and  warning  to  all 
times    as    the   first   murderer    and  fratricide ;    and 
Christ  told  us  that  he  who  hates  his  brother  in  his 
heart  is  already,  in  the  germ  and  essence,  a  mur- 
derer ;  the  first  act  of  Cain's  sin  is  begun  within 
mM. 

Far,  again,  as  patience  includes  submission  to  the 
divine  appointments,  let  us  remark  that  our  trials 
are  lessened  by  serene  meekness  and  resignation. 


66  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

God  lightens  and  removes  them  more  early,  and 
they  do  not  so  deeply  wound  and  empoison  the 
soul.  But  he  who  frets  and  fights  against  God,  in 
the  language  of  ancient  prophecy,  like  a  bullock 
unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  drives  the  deeper  into 
his  own  flesh  the  goad  against  which  he  vainly 
kicks. 

We  are  to  remember,  too,  the  necessity  of  this 
grace  to  success  and  influence  with  our  fellow-men. 
It  is  the  patient  perseverance  in  well-doing  that 
builds  up  consistency,  and  influence,  and  weight  of 
character.  We  are,  again,  all  to  remember  our  own 
unworthiness  before  God,  and  our  liability  to  pay 
ten  thousand  talents,  for  which  infinite  and  endless 
torments  would  be  no  sufficient  amends,  ere,  in  our 
fretfulness,  we  chide  man  harshly,  or  murmur  bit- 
terly against  our  God  and  his  providence.  Nor  is 
it  unfitting  that  we  remember  how  much  of  mercy 
and  kindness  there  is  in  God's  allotments ;  and  how, 
by  the  general  presence  of  affliction,  God  has  pro- 
vided in  every  sphere,  the  most  obscure  and  se- 
cluded even,  a  scene  where  he  may  be  glorified, 
and  where  the  power  of  his  religion  and  grace  may 
be  illustrated ;  and  how,  out  of  such  trials  meekly 
borne,  he  weaves  the  confessor's  wreath  and  the 
martyr's  crown,  and  makes  the  blood  of  his  slain 
servants  the  seed  of  his  Church,  whilst  the  wrath 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  67 

of  man  is  forced  to  praise  him,  and  the  remainder 
of  wrath  is  restrained. 

Are  we  tempted  to  impatience  and  anger  with 
some  erring  and  injurious  fellow-mortal  ?  Let  us 
test  the  old  Puritan  dilemma  in  such  a  case.  The 
offender  is  a  Christian  or  a  child  of  hell.  If  already, 
or  jet  to  become  the  first,  we  shall  in  heaven  not 
remember  with  pleasure  revengeful  and  retaliatory 
wrongs  aorainst  one  of  our  brethren  and  of  Christ's 
people.  If  an  enemy  of  God  and  an  heir  of  his 
wrath,  he  is  soon  to  endure  more  than  man  can  in- 
flict, and  the  bar  to  which  he  is  rushing  is  one  at 
which  strict  justice  and  unforgetting  memory  pre- 
side. Let  us  dread  snatching  into  our  hands  the 
sceptre  of  him  who  has  said  "Vengeance  is  mine,' 
and  then  pronouncing  rash  and  fiilse  judgment,  root- 
ing up  the  wheat  with  the  tares,  and  making  sad 
the  heart  of  the  righteous,  w  hom  God  has  not  made 
sad.  Tlie  question  of  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  to 
the  over-fretted  patriarch  has  much  of  dread  signifi- 
cance :  "  Wilt  thou  also  disannul  my  judgment  ? 
Wilt  thou  condemn  me  that  thou  mayest  be  right- 
eous ?"  (Job  xl.,  8).  Much  of  our  impatience  is  a 
virtual  disannulling  of  God's  decisions,  and  a  dis- 
tinct intimation  that  his  forbearance  is  wanting  in 
righteousness. — William  R.Williams. 


68  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

GOD  THE  ONLY  DEPENDENCE  OF  THE  SOUL. 

You  are  tried  alone  ;  alone  you  pass  into  the 
desert ;  alone  you  must  bear  and  conquer  in ,  the 
agony ;  alone  you  must  be  sifted  by  the  world ; 
there  are  moments  known  only  to  a  man's  own  self, 
when  he  sits  by  the  poisoned  springs  of  existence, 
"yearning  for  a  morrow  which  shall  free  him  from 
the  strife."  ....  Let  life  be  a  life  of  faith  ;  do  not  go 
timorously  about,  inquiring  what  others  think,  what 

others  believe,  and  what  others   say God  is 

near  you.  Throw  yourself  fearlessly  upon  liim. 
Trembling  mortal,  there  is  an  unknown  might  with- 
in your  soul  which  will  wake  when  you  command 

it Every  son  of  man  who  would  attain  the 

true  end  of  his  being  must  be  baptized  with  fire. — 
F.  W.  Robertson. 


"  YE  SHALL  HEAP  IF  YE  FAINT  NOT:' 
In  every  trial  of  every  kind,  for  every  one  of  us, 
is  it  not  the  same  ?  The  answer  may  come  sooner 
or  later;  the  well  of  joy  for  which  the  heart  yearns 
may  be  opened  early  in  the  pilgrimage  or  not  till 
near  the  mountain  top.  But  surely,  unfailingly,  v/e 
are  drawing  near  the  answer  to  all  our  prayers. — 
Anon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  69 

GLORY  OF  THE  CM  OSS. 
The  Cross  of  Christ  is  an  object  of  such  incom- 
parable brightness  that  it  spreads  a  glory  round  it 
to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  all  the  corners  of  the 
universe,  all  the  generations    of  time,  and  all  the 
ages  of  eternity.     The  greatest  actions  or  events 
that  ever  happened  on  earth  filled  with  their  splen- 
dor and  influence  but  a  moment  of  time  and  a  point 
of  space;  the  splendor  of  this  great  object  fills  im- 
mensity and  eternity.     If  we  take  a  right  view  of 
its  glory,  we  shall  see  it  contemplated  with  attention, 
spreading  influence,  and  attracting  looks  from  times 
past,  present,  and  to  come ;  heaven,  earth,  and  hell, 
angels,  saints,  devils.     We  shall  see  it  to  be  both 
the  object  of  the  deepest  admiration  of  the  creatures 
and  the  perfect  approbation  of  the  infinite  Creator ; 
we  shall  see  the  best  part  of  mankind,  the  Church 
of  God,  for  four  thousand  years  looking  forward  to 
it  before  it  happened ;  new  generations  yet  unborn 
rising  up  to  admire  and  honor  it  in  continual  suc- 
cession, till  time    shall  be   no    more  ;    innumerable 
multitudes  of  angels  and  saints  looking  back  to  it 
with  holy  transports  to  the  remotest  ages  of  eternity. 
Other  glories  decay  by  length  of  time  ;  if  the  splen- 
dor of  this  object  change,  it  will  be  only  by  increas- 
ing.   The  visible  sun  will  spend  his  beams  in  process 


70  LIGHT  AT  EYERING  TIME. 

of  time,  and,  as  it  were,  grow  dim  with  age ;  this 
object  hath  a  rich  stock  of  beams,  which  eternity 
can  not  exhaust.  If  saints  and  angels  grow  in 
knowledge,  the  splendor  of  this  object  will  be  in- 
creasing ;  'tis  unbelief  that  intercepts  its  beams ; 
unbehef takes  place  only  on  earth;  there  is  no  such 
thing  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  It  will  be  a  great  part 
of  future  blessedness  to  remember  the  object  that 
purchased  it,  and  of  future  punishment  to  remember 
the  object  that  offered  deliverance  from  it ;  it  will 
add  to  the  beams  of  love  in  heaven,  and  make  the 
flames  of  hell  burn  more  fiercely ;  its  beams  will  not 
only  adorn  the  regions  of  light,  but  pierce  the  re- 
gions of  darkness  ;  it  will  be  the  desire  of  the  saints 
in  light,  and  the  great  eyesore  of  the  prince  of  dark- 
ness and  his  subjects. — J.  Maclaurin. 


A  HUMBLE  HOME. 

Are  you  not  surprised  to  find  how  independent  of 
money  peace  of  conscience  is,  and  how  much  hap- 
piness can  be  condensed  into  the  humblest  home  ? 
A  cottage  will  not  hold  the  bulky  furniture  and 
sumptuous  accommodations  of  a  mansion ;  but,  if 
God  be  there,  a  cottage  will  hold  as  much  happiness 
as  might  stock  a  palace. — James  Hamilton. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  71 


TAKING   UP  THE  CROSS. 

Jesus,  I  ray  cross  have  taken, 

All  to  leave  and  follo^v  Thee ; 
Destitute,  despised,  forsaken, 

Thou  from  hence  my  all  shalt  be ; 
Perish  every  fond  ambition, 

All  I've  sought,  or  hoped,  or  known ; 
Yet  how  rich  is  my  condition ! 

God  and  heaven  are  still  my  own ! 

Let  the  world  despise  and  leave  rae^ 

They  have  left  my  Savior  too ; 
Human  hearts  and  looks  deceive  me ; 

Thou  art  not,  like  them,  untrue  ; 
And,  whilst  Thou  shalt  smile  upon  me 

God  of  wisdom,  love,  and  might. 
Foes  may  hate,  and  friends  may  shun  me; 

Show  Thy  face,  and  all  is  bright ! 

Go,  then,  earthly  fame  and  treasure  ! 

Come  disaster,  scorn,  and  pain  ! 
In  Thy  service  pain  is  pleasure, 

With  Thy  favor  loss  is  gain  ! 
I  have  called  Thee  Abba,  Father  ! 

I  have  stayed  my  heart  on  Thee  ! 
Storms  may  howl,  and  clouds  may  gather;, 

All  must  work  for  good  to  me. 


72  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Man  may  trouble  and  distress  me, 

'Twill  but  drive  me  to  Thy  breast ; 
Life  with  trials  hard  may  press  me, 

Heaven  will  bring  me  sweeter  rest ; 
O,  'tis  not  in  grief  to  harm  me. 

While  Thy  love  is  left  to  me ! 
O,  'twere  not  in  joy  to  charm  me, 

Were  that  joy  unmixed  with  Thee ! 

Take,  my  soul,  thy  full  salvation ; 

Rise  o'er  sin,  and  fear,  and  care ; 
Joy  to  find,  in  every  station, 

Somethino;  still  to  do  or  bear : 
Think  what  Spirit  dwells  within  thee ! 

What  a  Father's  smile  is  thine ! 
What  a  Savior  died  to  win  thee ! 

Child  of  heaven,  shouldst  thou  repine  ? 

Haste  then  on  from  grace  to  glory, 

Armed  by  faith,  and  winged  by  prayer; 
Heaven's  eternal  day's  before  thee, 

God's  own  hand  shall  guide  thee  there ! 
Soon  shall  close  thy  earthly  mission, 

Swift  shall  pass  thy  pilgrim  days; 
Hope  soon  change  to  glad  fruition, 

Faith  to  sight,  and  prayer  to  praise ! 

Henky  Francis  LytEo 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME,  Y3 


UPHELD  BY  THE  DIVINE  HAND. 

The  almighty  Architect  stretches  out  the  north, 
and  its  whole  starry  train,  over  the  empty  space  ; 
he  hangs  the  earth  and  all  the  ethereal  globes  upon 
nothing,  yet  are  their  foundations  laid  so  sure  that 
they  can  never  be  moved  at  any  time. 

No  unfit  representation  to  the  sincere  Christian 
of  his  final  perseverance  ;  but  such  as  points  out 
the  cause  that  effects  it,  and  constitutes  the  pledge 
which  ascertains  it.  His  nature  is  all  enfeebled; 
he  is  not  able  of  himself  to  think  a  good  thought ; 
he  has  no  visible  safeguard,  nor  any  sufficiency  of 
his  own,  and  yet  whole  legions  of  formidable  ene- 
mies are  combined  to  compass  his  ruin.  The  world 
lays  unnumbered  snares  for  his  feet ;  the  devil  is 
incessantly  urging  the  siege  by  a  multitude  of  fiery 
darts  or  wily  temptations ;  the  flesh,  like  a  perfidious 
inmate,  under  color  of  friendship  and  a  specious 
pretense  of  pleasure,  is  always  forward  to  betray  his 
integrity  ;  but,  amid  all  these  threatening  circum- 
stances of  personal  weakness  and  imminent  danger, 
an  invisible  aid  is  his  defense. 

"  I  will  uphold  thee,"  says  the  blessed  God,  "  with 

the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness."     Oh,  comfort- 

F 


74  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

able  truth !  The  arm  which  fixes  the  stars  in  their 
courses,  and  guides  the  planets  in  theirs,  is  stretched 
out  to  preserve  the  heirs  of  salvation. 

"  My  sheep  are  mine ;  and  they  shall  never  per- 
ish, neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand" 
(John  X.,  27,  28).  What  words  are  these  !  And 
did  they  come  from  him  who  hath  all  power  in 
heaven  and  earth  ?  And  were  they  spoken  to  ev- 
ery unfeigned  though  feeble  follower  of  the  great 
Shepherd  ?  Then  Omnipotence  itself  must  be  van- 
quished before  they  can  be  destroyed,  either  by  the 
seductions  of  frauds  or  the  assaults  of  violence. 

If  you  ask,  therefore,  "  What  security  we  have  of 
enduring  to  the  end,  and  continuing  faithful  unto 
death  ?"  The  very  same  that  established  the  heav- 
ens, and  settles  the  ordinances  of  the  universe.  Can 
these  be  thrown  into  confusion  ?  Then  may  the 
true  believer  draw  back  unto  perdition.  Can  the 
sun  be  dislodged  from  his  sphere,  and  rush  lawless- 
ly through  the  sky  ?  Then,  and  then  only,  can  the 
faith  of  God's  elect  be  overthrown  finally.  Be  of 
good  courage,  then.  O  my  soul,  rely  on  those  di- 
vine succors  which  are  so  solemnly  stipulated,  so 
faithfully  promised.  Though  thy  grace  be  languid 
as  the  glimmering  spark,  though  the  overflowings 
of  corruption  threaten  it  with  total  extinction,  yet, 
since  the  great  Jehovah  has  undertaken  to  cherish 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  75 

the  dim  principle,  many  waters  can  not  quench  it, 
nor  the  floods  drown  it.  Nay,  though  it  were  feeble 
as  the  smoking  flax,  Almighty  goodness  stands  en- 
gaged to  augment  the  heat,  to  raise  the  fire,  and 
feed  the  flame,  till  it  beam  forth  a  lamp  of  immortal 
glory  in  the  heavens. — James  Hervey. 


ENDURING  UNTO  THE  END. 

The  philosopher  being  asked,  in  his  old  age,  why 
he  did  not  give  over  his  practice  and  take  his  ease, 
answered,  "  When  a  man  is  to  run  a  race  of  forty 
furlongs,  would  you  have  him  sit  down  at  the  nine 
and  thirtieth,  and  so  lose  the  prize  ?"  We  do  not 
keep  a  good  fire  all  day,  and  let  it  go  out  in  the 
evening,  when  it  is  coldest,  but  then  rather  lay  on 
more  fuel,  that  we  may  go  warm  to  bed.  Thus  he 
that  slakes  the  heat  of  zeal  in  his  age  will  go  cold 
to  bed,  and  in  a  worse  case  to  his  grave.  To  con- 
tinue in  giving  glory  to  Christ  is  no  less  requisite 
than  to  begin ;  though  the  beginning  be  more  than 
half,  yet  the  end  is  more  than  all.  The  God  of  all 
perfection  looks  that  our  ultimum  vit^  should  be 
his  OPTIMUM  GLORiiE  ;  that  our  last  works  should 
be  our  best  works ;  that  we  should  persevere  in 
goodness  to  the  end. — Spencer. 


76  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

ALL  FROM  CHRIST. 

If  ever  thou  look  for  sound  comfort  on  earth  and 
salvation  in  heaven,  unglue  thyself  from  the  world 
and  the  vanities  of  it ;  put  thyself  upon  thy  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ ;  leave  not  till  thou  findest 
thyself  firmly  united  to  him,  so  as  thou  art  become 
a  limb  of  that  Body  whereof  he  is  head,  a  spouse 
of  that  husband,  a  branch  of  that  stem,  a  stone  laid 
upon  that  foundation.  Look  not,  therefore,  for  any 
blessing  out  of  him ;  and  in,  and  by,  and  from  him 
look  for  all  blessings.  Let  him  be  thy  life,  and  wish 
not  to  live  longer  than  thou  art  quickened  by  him. 
Find  him  thy  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification, 
redemption ;  thy  riches,  thy  strength,  thy  glory. 
Apply  unto  thyself  all  that  thy  Savior  is  or  hath 
done.  Wouldst  thou  have  the  graces  of  God's 
Spirit  ?  fetch  them  from  his  anointing.  Wouldst 
thou  have  power  against  spiritual  enemies  ?  fetch  it 
from  his  sovereignty.  Wouldst  thou  have  redemp- 
tion ?  fetch  it  from  his  passion.  Wouldst  thou  have 
absolution  ?  fetch  it  from  his  perfect  innocence ; 
freedom  from  the  curse  ?  fetch  it  from  his  cross ; 
satisfaction  ?  fetch  it  from  his  sacrifice ;  cleansing 
from  sin  ?  fetch  it  from  his  blood ;  mortification  ? 
fetch  it  from  his  grave ;  newness  of  life  ?  fetch  it 
from  his  resurrection  ;  right  to  heaven  ?  fetch  it  from 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  77 

his  purchase  ;  audience  to  all  thy  suits  ?  fetch  it  from 
his  intercession.  Wouldst  thou  have  salvation  ? 
fetch  it  from  his  session  at  the  right  hand  of  Majes- 
ty. Wouldst  thou  have  all  ?  fetch  it  from  him  who 
is  one  Lord,  one  God,  and  Father  of  all ;  w^ho  is 
above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all." — Joseph  Hall. 


MAGNETISM  OF  FAITH 
I  HAVE  observed  at  sea,  and  it  is  often  noticed  by 
mariners,  that  in  the  beginning  of  bad  weather,  be- 
fore the  storm  was  fairly  set  in  and  fixed  in  its 
course,  the  needle  in  the  compass-box  was  consid- 
erably affected,  and  there  was  unusual  oscillation, 
probably  through  the  changing  or  disturbance  of 
the  atmosphere's  electric  forces.  But,  after  the  gale 
was  fairly  formed  or  at  its  height,  the  needle  became 
true  to  its  polarity.  In  like  manner  is  it  with  a  mind 
under  trial  that  has  been  once  thoroughly  magnet- 
ized by  the  grace  of  God,  so  as  to  have  the  law  of 
divine  polarity  impressed  upon  it,  making  it  to  turn 
always  to  the  Pole-star  of  Bethlehem,  the  great 
magnet  of  the  regenerated  soul.  Though  ordinari- 
ly true  to  his  pole,  it  is  seldom  or  never  that  the 
Christian  can  at  once  repress  the  flutter  and  agita- 
tion of  nature,  control  or  understand  its  deviations, 


78  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

collect  his  energies,  and  repose  calmly  on  God.  It 
is  seldom  that  faith,  taken  by  surprise,  does  at  once 
steady  the  soul,  and  lift  a  man  clear  above  hostile 
infirmities  and  fears.  Although  it  be  true  that,  when 
once  magnetized  by  the  love  of  God,  the  soul  does 
always  point  upward  by  strong  attraction,  as  the 
compass-needle,  to  the  north,  yet,  like  that  same 
needle,  suddenly  acted  upon  by  a  disturbing  force, 
you  must  give  it  time  to  recover  its  balance,  and,  its 
oscillations  done,  to  fasten  upon  the  central  point 
of  rest. 

We  have  known  God's  dear  children  sometimes, 
when  calamities  came  suddenly  in  prospect,  when 
huge  billows  seemed  ready  to  go  over  them,  and  a 
black  cloud  of  sorrows  was  about  to  burst  upon 
their  heads,  at  first  trembling  and  anxious,  swinging 
a  little  with  trepidation  to  this  side  and  that  of  the 
central  point  of  rest ;  but,  as  the  trial  became  more 
distinctly  defined,  the  cloud's  lightning  began  to  flash, 
and  its  big  drops  to  fall,  the  palpitating  heart  would 
be  still,  the  vibrations  of  the  will  would  cease,  faith 
gather  strength,  and  the  eye  of  the  soul  be  upturned 
and  fastened  on  a  faithful  God,  and  its  hand  grasp 
firmly  the  promises  which  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor 
angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  to 
come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature, 
can  even  loosen. — H.  T.  Cheever. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  79 

FIDELITY  TO  THE  FAITH. 
St. Paul  "kept  the  faith"  at  Antioch  even  when 
the  infuriated  crowd  attempted  to  drown  his  voice 
with  their  clamors,  and  "  interrupted  him,  contradict- 
ing and  blaspheming."  He  "  kept  the  faith"  at  Ico- 
nium,  when  the  "  envious  Jews  stirred  up  the  people 
to  stone  him."  He  "  kept  the  faith"  at  Lystra,  when 
the  fate  of  Stephen  became  almost  his,  and  he  was 
dragged,  wounded  and  bleeding,  outside  the  ram- 
parts of  the  town,  and  left  there  to  languish,  and, 
for  aught  they  cared,  to  die.  He  "kept  the  faith" 
against  his  erring  brother  Peter,  and  "withstood 
him  to  the  face,  because  he  was  to  be  blamed."  He 
"  kept  the  faith"  when  shamefully  treated  at  Philippi, 
and  made  the  dungeon  echo  back  the  praises  of  his 
God.  He  "kept  the  faith"  at  Thessalonica,  when 
"  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort  accused  him  falsely 
of  sedition."  He  "  kept  the  faith"  at  Athens,  when 
to  the  world's  sages  he  preached  of  him  whom  they 
ignorantly  worshiped  as  "  the  Unknown  God."  He 
"  kept  the  faith"  at  Corinth,  when  compelled  to  aban- 
don that  hardened  and  obdurate  city,  and  to  shake 
off  the  dust  from  his  garment  as  a  testimony  against 
it.  He  "  kept  the  faith"  at  Ephesus,  when  he  pointed 
his  hearers,  not  to  Diana,  but  to  Jesus  Christ  as 
their  only  Savior.     He  "kept  the  faith"  at  Jerusa- 


so  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

lem,  when  stoned  by  the  enraged  and  agitated  mob, 
when  stretched  upon  the  torturing  rack,  when  bound 
with  iron  fetters.  He  "kept  the  faith"  in  Csesarea, 
before  the  trembhng,  conscience -stricken  Fehx, 
when  he  "  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance, 
and  judgment  to  come."  He  "kept  the  faith"  before 
Agrippa,  and  by  his  earnestness  compelled  the  king 
to  say,  "  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian." And  even  in  the  closing  hours  of  life,  when 
the  last  storm  was  gathering  over  his  head,  when 
lying  in  the  dark  and  dismal  Roman  cell,  he  wrote 
these  triumphant  words :  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be 
offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand. 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that 
day." — J.  R.  Macduff. 


BUILD  ON  THE  MOCK. 

Build  your  nest  upon  no  tree  here,  for  you  see 
God  hath  sold  the  forest  to  Death ;  and  every  tree 
whereupon  we  would  rest  is  ready  to  be  cut  down, 
to  the  end  we  may  flee,  and  mount  up,  and  build 
upon  the  Rock. — Samuel  Rutherford. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  81 


CLOUD  OF  MERCY. 
How  vast  the  range  of  blessing  your  prayers 
may  take !  Who  can  tell  the  history  or  trace  the 
wanderings  of  yon  cloud,  that  sails  in  light  and 
glory  across  the  sky,  or  indicate  from  what  source 
its  bosom  was  filled  with  vapors  it  is  to  shed  back 
upon  the  earth  ?  Perhaps,  though  now  wandering 
over  the  tilled  field  and  the  peopled  village,  its  stores 
were  drawn  from  some  shaded  fountain  in  the  deep 
forest,  where  the  eye  of  man  has  scarce  even  pen- 
etrated. In  silent  obscurity  that  fountain  yielded 
its  pittance,  and  did  its  work  of  preparing  to  bless 
the  far-off  lands  that  shall  yet  be  glad  for  it.  And 
even  thus  it  is  with  the  descending  Spirit.  Little 
do  we  know  often  of  the  secret  origin  of  the  dews 
of  blessings  that  descend  on  the  churches  of  God. 
In  the  recesses  of  some  lowly  cottage,  in  the  depths 
of  some  humble  heart,  may  be  going  on  the  work 
of  pious  intercession,  in  answer  to  which  the  grace 
of  heaven  descends  on  us  and  our  children,  on  the 
labors  of  the  wondering  and  joyful  pastor,  and  on 
the  hearts  of  the  far  heathen,  until  the  wilderness 
and  the  solitary  place  are  glad  for  them. — W.  R. 
Williams. 


82  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  ADVENT. 

Joy  to  the  world  !  the  Lord  is  come : 

Let  earth  receive  her  King; 
Let  every  heart  prepare  Him  room, 

And  heaven  and  nature  sing. 

Joy  to  the  earth !  the  Savior  reigns ; 

Let  men  their  songs  emj)loy; 
While  fields  and  floods,  rocks,  hills,  and  plains, 

Repeat  the  sounding  joy. 

No  more  let  sins  and  sorrows  grow, 

Nor  thorns  infest  the  ground : 
He  comes  to  make  his  blessings  flow 

Far  as  the  curse  is  found. 

He  rules  the  world  with  truth  and  grace. 

And  makes  the  nations  prove 
The  glories  of  His  righteousness. 

And  wonders  of  His  love. — Isaac  Watts. 


LIFE  OF  FAITH. 

Have  you   ever  thought  of  the  life  of  a  child  ? 

Why,  the  life  of  a  child  is  a  perfect  life  of  faith. 

That  little   child  —  w  hat  can  that  little   child  do  ? 

Why,  that  little  child  can  not  find  its  way  to  the 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  83 

street  end  and  back  again.  It  would  be  lost  if  you 
trusted  it  alone.  That  little  child  could  not  find  the 
next  meal.  If  you  left  that  little  child  it  would  die 
of  want.  That  little  child  could  not  furnish  a  shelter 
for  its  own  head  to-night,  and  yet  has  that  little  child 
any  fear  about  it  ?  Has  that  little  child  any  sort  of 
alarm  about  it  ?  Not  at  all !  How  comes  it  that 
the  child's  life  is  the  happy  life  it  is  ?  Because,  in- 
stinctively and  beautifully,  it  is  a  life  of  faith.  That 
child  could  not  buy  the  next  loaf,  but  it  has  a  firm 
belief  that  "  father"  can.  That  child  could  not  pro- 
vide for  itself  the  garments  for  to-morrow,  but  it  has 
an  unbounded  belief  in  "father's"  power  to  do  it, 
and  "mother's"  power  to  do  it.  That  child  could 
not  do  it  for  itself  one  day,  but  it  never  costs  that 
child  a  moment's  concern.  Its  life  is  a  life  of  per- 
fect faith  in  its  parents. — S.  Coley. 


CHRIST  A  FO  UNTAIN. 

"  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and 
drink."  What  man  would  dare  to  say  of  merely 
physical  things,  "  If  any  man  lacks  knowledge,  let 
him  come  to  me  ?"  Neither  Humboldt,  nor  Liebig, 
nor  Agassiz  would  dare  to  say  this  even  of  the  de- 
partments in  which  they  are  pre-eminent,  how  much 


84  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

less  of  the  whole  range  of  learning !  Yet  Christ, 
disdaining  physical  things,  appeals  at  once  to  the 
soul,  with  all  its  yearnings,  its  depths  of  despair,  its 
claspings — like  a  mother  feeling  at  midnight  for  the 
child  whom  death  has  taken — its  infinite  outreach- 
ings,  its  longings  for  love,  and  peace,  and  joy,  which 
nothing  can  satisfy  this  side  of  the  bosom  of  God, 
and  says,  "  If  any  man  thirsts,  let  him  come  unto  me 
and  drink."  He  stands  over  against  whatever  want 
there  is  in  the  human  bosom,  whatever  hunger  there 
is  in  the  moral  faculties,  whatever  need  there  is  in 
the  imagination,  and  says,  "  He  that  cometh  unto 
me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  belie veth  on  me 
shall  never  thirst." — H.  W.  Beecher. 


GOD  A  FRIEND, 

A  HEATHEN  sagc  Said  to  one  of  his  friends,  "  Do 
not  complain  of  thy  misfortunes  as  long  as  Caesar  is 
thy  friend  !"  What  shall  we  say  to  those  whom  the 
Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth  calls  his  sons  and 
his  brethren  ?  "I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake 
thee  ! '  Ought  not  these  words  to  cast  all  fear  and 
care  forever  to  the  ground  ?  He  who  possesses 
him,  to  whom  all  things  belong,  possesses  all  things. 
— F.  W.  Krummacher. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  85 


CUEIST  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN. 

This  communion  is  the  motive  and  source,  the 
secret  and  the  reward,  the  tahsman  and  the  glory 
of  our  Hfe  toward  God.  Come,  then,  Lord  Jesus, 
into  our  souls,  and  possess  them,  and  pervade  them 
with  thyself!  We  would  feel  that  Christ  liveth  in 
us  beyond  the  contingency  of  removal.  You  know 
that  Phidias  so  wrought  his  own  name  into  the 
shield  of  the  statue  of  Minerva  that  it  could  not 
be  removed  without  destroying  his  masterpiece. 
Christ  in  his  children  engraves  not  merely  his  name, 
but  as  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,  he  inter- 
penetrates their  hearts,  and  dwells  there  in  such 
essential,  vital  presence  that  his  dislodgment  would 
destroy  the  life  and  beauty  of  his  people,  and  leave 
them  withered  and  loathsome  members  in  their 
wasting  and  decay.  Here,  then,  is  the  source  and 
guaranty  of  our  life  toward  God :  the  constant  in- 
dwelling of  Jesus,  who  is  the  incarnation,  not  of  the 
nature  alone,  but  of  the  truth  of  God. 

This  is  what  gave  Peter  his  consuming  zeal  at 
Pentecost;  Paul  his  rapture,  when  whether  in  the 
body  or  out  of  the  body  he  could  not  tell ;  and  John 
his  divine  illumination  to  see  that  multitude  which 
no  man  could  number ;  martyrs  their  calmness  and 


86  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

courage  amid  the  crackling  of  fagots  and  the  curl- 
ing of  flames  ;  missionaries  their  hope  and  trust 
amid  the  death-damps  of  the  Bassas  and  the  hor- 
rors of  Oung-pen-la ;  Christians  love,  and  longing 
to  toil  and  suffer  for  Jesus,  and  grace  and  joy  to  die 
in  his  service  like  Paul,  with  the  triumph  leaping 
from  his  quivering  lips, "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight, 
I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith ; 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  right- 
eousness," taken  up  eighteen  centuries  after  by 
Payson  on  his  dying-bed,  "  The  battle's  fought !  the 
battle's  fought !  The  victory  is  won  !  The  victory 
is  won  forever !"  O  brethren,  brethren,  there  is  no 
God-ward  living,  no  living  in  the  Church,  no  spir- 
itual, no  evangelical  living,  no  God-approved  work- 
ing, no  brave  and  no  glorious  dying  without  com- 
munion with  God,  through  an  indwelling  Christ  as 
the  divine  embodiment  of  all  spiritual  truth,  and  as 
the  divine  source  and  authority  of  all  spiritual  hfe. 
May  we  feel  the  upUfting  of  this  divine  force  in  us. 
By  the  mystery  of  the  new  birth  may  we  all  be 
yielded  up  again  to  this  inspiration  of  God,  lost  by 
our  sinning,  but  recovered  by  our  believing,  and 
continued  by  our  receiving  and  appropriating  the 
truth  of  God  through  unceasing  faith  in  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ. — A.  H.  Burlingham. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  87 


IGNORANCE  OF  THE  FUTURE. 
None,  indeed,  can  open  the  "  seven-sealed  book," 
or  look  forward  over  the  dim  and  shadowy  field 
stretching  out  inimitably  before  him.  The  astron- 
omer discourses  on  the  rate  at  which  a  sunbeam 
travels,  and  explains  how  the  flashing  lightning 
may  be  dispersed  and  its  terrible  swoop  evaded. 
He  even  indicates  those  spheres  where  storms  nev- 
er gather  and  thunders  never  roll ;  but  he  can  not 
solve  the  anxious  problem  of  our  future,  nor  help 
us  by  his  great  wisdom  to  avoid  its  manifold  evils, 
because  they  come  unforewarned.  Nor  will  the 
lives  of  those  gone  before  avail  us,  seeing  no  lives 
are  marked  by  the  same  vicissitudes,  or  checkered 
by  the  same  light  and  shades,  the  same  joy  and 
sorrow.  In  the  eloquent  words  of  a  foreign  divine, 
"We  can  become  familiar  with  a  landscape,  we 
know  where  to  find  the  waterfall,  and  the  shady 
ledge  where  the  violets  grow  in  spring,  and  the 
sassafras  gives  forth  its  odors,  but  we  can  never 
become  familiar  with  our  life-landscape  ;  we  can 
never  tell  where  we  shall  come  upon  the  shady  dell, 
or  where  the  fountains  will  gush  and  the  birds  sing. 
That  is  with  God."  And  his  name  be  praised  that 
it  is  so ;  for  a  definite  prescience  thereof  would,  in 


83  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

most  instances,  cloud  the  whole  course  of  life,  poison 
every  stream  of  enjoyment,  and  render  existence  a 
curse  of  no  ordinary  magnitude. — Edwin  Davies. 


FIDELITY  IN  PERSECUTION. 
True  men  are  calm  and  faithful  in  the  greatest 
trials  and  before  the  fiercest  foes,  Josephus  re- 
cords a  case  in  point,  the  speech  of  Eleazar  before 
the  tyrant  Antiochus.  Said  the  intrepid  martyr : 
"  Old  age  has  not  so  impaired  my  mind  or  enfeebled 
my  body  but,  when  religion  and  duty  call  upon  me, 
I  feel  a  youthful  and  vigorous  soul.  Does  this  dec- 
laration awaken  your  resentment  ?  Prepare  your 
instruments  of  torture,  provoke  the  flames  of  the 
furnace  to  a  fiercer  rage ;  nothing  shall  induce  me 
to  save  these  silver  locks  by  a  violation  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  my  country  and  of  my  God.  Thou  holy 
law !  from  whom  I  derive  my  knowledge,  I  will 
never  desert  so  excellent  a  master.  Thou  prime 
virtue,  temperance !  I  will  never  abjure  thee.  Au- 
gust and  sacred  priesthood !  I  will  never  disgrace 
thee.  I  will  bear  it  to  my  ancestors  a  pure  and  un- 
sullied soul,  as  free  from  stain  as  I  stand  in  this 
place  devoid  of  fear,  amid  the  parade  of  your  threat- 
ening engines  and  implements  of  martyrdom." — 
E.  L.  Magoon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENTING  TIME.  89> 


SI3IPLICITY  OF  FAITH. 

All  men  are  born  with  faith.  Faith  is  as  natural 
to  a  man  as  grief^  or  love,  or  anger.  One  of  the 
earliest  flowers  that  spring  up  in  the  soul,  it  smiles 
on  a  mother  from  her  infant's  cradle ;  and,  living  on 
through  the  rudest  storms,  it  never  dies  till  the  hour 
of  death.  On  the  face  of  a  child  which  has  been  left 
for  a  little  time  with  strangers,  and  may  be  caressed 
with  their  kisses,  and  courted  with  their  smiles,  and 
fondled,  and  dandled  in  their  arms,  I  have  seen  a 
cloud  gathering  and  growing  darker,  till  at  length 
it  burst  in  cries  of  terrors  and  showers  of  tears. 
The  mother  returns ;  and  when  the  babe  holds  out 
its  little  arms  to  her,  I  see  in  these  arms  the  arms 
of  faith ;  and  when,  like  a  believer  restored  to  the 
bosom  of  his  God,  it  is  nestling  in  a  mother's  em- 
brace, and  the  cloud  passes  from  its  brow,  and  its 
tears  are  changed  into  smiles,  and  its  terror  into 
calm  serenity,  we  behold  the  principle  of  faith  in 
play. 

This  is  one  of  its  earliest,  and — so  far  as  nature 
is  concerned  —  one  of  its  most  beautiful  develop- 
ments. So  natural  is  it  for  us  to  confide,  and  trust, 
and  believe,  that  a  child  believes  whatever  it  is  told 

until  experience  shakes  its   confidence  in  human 

G 


90  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

veracity.  Its  eye  is  caught  by  the  beauty  of  some 
flower,  or  it  gazes  up  with  wonder  on  the  starry 
heavens ;  with  that  inquisitiveness  which  in  child- 
hood, active  as  a  bee,  is  ever  on  the  wing,  it  is  curi- 
ous to  know  who  made  them,  and  would  believe 
you  if  you  said  you  made  them  yourself  Such  is 
the  faith  which  nature  gives  it  in  a  father  that  it 
never  doubts  his  word.  It  believes  all  he  says,  and 
is  content  to  believe  where  it  is  not  able  to  compre- 
hend. For  this,  as  well  as  other  reasons,  our  Savior 
presented  in  a  child  the  living  model  of  a  Christian. 
He  left  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  to  his 
repose  in  heaven ;  he  left  Samuel  undisturbed  to 
enjoy  the  quiet  rest  of  his  grave ;  he  allowed  Moses 
and  Elias,  after  their  brief  visit,  to  return  to  the 
skies,  and  wing  their  way  back  to  glory.  For  a 
pattern  of  faith,  he  took  a  boy  from  his  mother's 
side,  and  setting  him  up,  in  his  gentle,  blushing, 
shrinking  modesty,  before  the  great  assembly,  he 
said,  "  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom 
of  God  as  a  little  child,  shall  not  enter  therein." — 
Thomas  Guthrie. 


You  will  excuse  me  if  I  ask  you  to  look  out  for 
the  sunlight  the  Lord  sends  into  your  days. — Hope 
Campbell. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  91 

THE  S  Y3IPA  THY  OF  JES  US. 

It  is  in  this  entire  and  perfect  sympathy  with  all 
humanity  that  the  heart  of  Jesus  differs  from  every 
other  heart  that  is  found  among  the  sons  of  men. 
And  it  is  this,  oh!  it  is  this  which  is  the  chief  bless- 
edness of  having  such  a  Savior.  If  you  are  poor, 
you  can  only  get  a  miserable  sympathy  from  the 
rich ;  with  the  best  intentions,  they  can  not  under- 
stand you.  Their  sympathy  is  awkward.  If  you 
are  in  pain,  it  is  only  a  factitious  and  constrained 
sympathy  you  get  from  those  in  health — feelings 
forced,  adopted  kindly,  but  imperfect  still.  They  sit, 
when  the  regular  condolence  is  done,  beside  you, 
conversing  on  topics  with  each  other  that  jar  upon 
your  ear. 

They  sympathize  ?  Miserable  comforters  are 
they  all.  If  you  are  miserable,  and  tell  out  your 
grief]  you  have  the  shame  of  feeling  that  you  were 
not  understood,  that  you  have  bared  your  inner  self 
to  a  rude  gaze.  If  you  are  in  doubt,  you  can  not 
tell  your  doubts  to  religious  people  ;  no,  not  even  to 
the  ministers  of  Christ,  for  they  have  no  place  for 
doubts  in  their  largest  system.  They  ask,  "  What 
right  have  you  to  doubt  ?"  They  suspect  your 
character.  They  shake  the  head,  and  whisper  it 
about  gravely  that  you  read  strange  books — that  you 


92  LIGHT  AT  E VEILING  TIME. 

are  verging  on  infidelity.  If  you  are  depressed  with 
guilt,  to  whom  shall  you  tell  out  your  tale  of  shame  ? 
The  confessional,  with  its  innumerable  evils,  and  yet 
indisputably  soothing  power,  is  passed  away ;  but 
there  is  nothing  to  supply  its  place.  You  can  not 
speak  to  your  brother  man,  for  you  injure  him  by 
doing  so,  or  else  weaken  yourself  You  can  not 
tell  it  to  society,  for  society  judges  in  the  gross  by 
general  rules,  and  can  not  take  into  account  the  del- 
icate differences  of  transgression.  It  banishes  the 
frail  penitent,  and  does  homage  to  the  daring,  hard 
transgressor.  Then  it  is  that,  repulsed  on  all  sides 
and  lonely,  we  turn  to  him  whose  mighty  heart  un- 
derstands and  feels  all.  "Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life." — F.  W. 
Robertson. 


LOOK  UP. 

Hast  thou  no  dwelling  of  thy  own,  no  posses- 
sion, and  little  for  present  supply  ? 

Look  up  to  him  that  passed  through  here  in  that 
very  same  way,  and  cleave  the  closer  to  him ;  so 
much  the  more  eye  him  as  thy  riches  and  portion, 
and  thou  needest  not  envy  kings  in  their  best  days ; 
and  whatsoever  be  thy  estate,  how  soon  shall  it  be 
past. — Robert  Leighton. 


LIGHT  AT  EVEXIJs^G  TIME.  93 


SIGHT  OF  JESUS. 
To  see  Jesus  clearly  with  an  eye  of  faith  is  to 
see  the  deep  opening  a  way  from  Egypt  to  free- 
dom's shore ;  is  to  see  the  waters  gush  full  and 
sparkling  from  the  desert  rock ;  is  to  see  the  ser- 
pent gleaming  on  its  pole  over  a  dying  camp ;  is  to 
see  the  life-boat  coming  when  our  bark  is  thumping 
on  the  bank  or  ground  on  rocks  by  foaming  break- 
ers ;  it  is  to  see  a  pardon  when  the  noose  is  round 
our  neck  and  our  foot  is  on  the  drop.  No  sight  in 
the  wide  w  orld  like  Jesus  Christ,  with  forgiveness 
on  his  Hps,  and  a  crown  in  his  blessed  hand !  This 
is  worth  laboring  for,  praying  for,  living  for,  suffer- 
ing for,  dying  for.  You  remember  how  the  proph- 
et's servant  climbed  the  steps  of  Carmel.  Three 
years,  and  never  cloud  had  dappled  the  burning 
sky;  three  long  years,  and  never  a  dew-drop  had 
ghstened  on  the  grass  or  wet  the  lips  of  a  dying 
flower ;  but  the  cloud  came  at  last.  No  bioffrer 
than  a  man's  hand  it  rose  from  the  sea ;  it  spread ; 
and  as  he  saw  the  first  lififhtninof's  flash  and  heard 
the  first  thunder's  roll,  how  did  he  forget  all  his 
toils,  and  would  have  climbed  the  hill,  not  seven, 
but  seventy  times  seven  times,  to  hail  that  welcome 
sight ! 


94  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

It  is  so  with  sinners  so  soon  as  their  eyes  are 
gladdened  with  a  beheving  sight  of  Christ ;  when 
they  have  got  Christ,  and  with  him  peace. — Thomas 
Guthrie. 


THE  WELSH  FEASANT. 

It  is  told  of  a  poor  peasant  on  the  Welsh  mount- 
ains that,  month  after  month,  year  after  year,  through 
a  long  period  of  declining  life,  he  was  used  every 
morning,  as  soon  as  he  awoke,  to  open  his  case- 
ment window  toward  the  east,  and  look  out  to  see 
if  Jesus  Christ  was  coming.  He  was  no  calcu- 
lator, or  he  need  not  look  so  long ;  he  was  a  student 
of  prophecy,  or  he  would  not  have  looked  at  all ;  he 
was  ready,  or  he  would  not  have  been  in  so  much 
haste  ;  he  was  willing,  or  he  would  rather  have 
looked  another  way ;  he  loved,  or  it  would  not  have 
been  the  first  thought  of  the  morning.  His  Master 
did  not  come,  but  a  messenger  did,  to  fetch  the  ready 
one  home ;  the  same  preparation  sufficed  for  both ; 
the  longing  soul  was  satisfied  with  either. 

Often,  when  in  the  morning  the  child  of  God 
awakes,  wearily  and  encumbered  with  the  flesh, 
perhaps  from  troubled  dreams,  perhaps  with  troub- 
led thoughts,  his  Father's   secret  comes  presently 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  95 

across  him  ;  he  looks  up,  if  not  out,  to  feel,  if  not  to 
see,  the  glories  of  that  last  morning  when  the  trum- 
pet shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  arise  indestructi- 
ble ;  no  weary  limbs  to  bear  the  spirit  down ;  no  fe- 
verish dreams  to  haunt  the  visions ;  no  dark  fore- 
casting of  the  day's  events,  or  returning  memory  of 
the  griefs  of  yesterday. — Caroline  Fry. 


SIMPLY  TRUSTING. 

I  KNOW  not  tlie  way  I  am  going, 

But  well  do  I  know  my  Guide ; 
With  a  child-like  trust  I  give  my  hand 

To  the  mighty  Friend  by  my  side. 
The  only  thing  that  I  say  to  Him, 

As  he  takes  it,  is  "  Hold  it  fast ; 
Suffer  me  not  to  lose  my  way, 

And  bring  me  home  at  last." 

As  when  some  w^eary  wanderer, 

Alone  in  an  unknown  land. 
Tells  the  guide  his  destined  place  of  rest. 

And  leaves  all  the  rest  in  his  hand : 
'Tis  home,  'tis  home  that  we  wish  to  reach, 

He  who  guides  us  may  choose  the  way; 
Little  we  heed  which  path  we  take 

If  nearer  home  each  day. — Anon. 


96  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

THE  DISCOURAGEMENTS  OF  LIFE. 

And  they  jourjieyed  from  Mount  Hor  by  the  way  of  the 
Red  Sea,  to  compass  the  land  of  Edom ;  and  the  soul  of  the 
people  was  much  discouraged  because  of  the  way. — Num- 
bers xxi.,  4. 

We  doubt  not  that  there  will  be  seasons,  even  in 
the  happiest  Christian  pilgrimage,  when  the  soul 
will  be  discouraged,  and  even  "much  discouraged, 
because  of  the  way."  When  difficulties,  which  we 
thought  had  passed  over,  will  reappear ;  when  temp- 
tations, which  we  thought  had  been  forever  van- 
quished, will  again  rise  up  against  us ;  when  sins, 
which  we  trusted  we  had  forsaken,  will  once  more 
mar  our  path  ;  and  these  things  will  lead  us  to  feel  a 
deep  sensation  of  despondency  ;  we  shall  be  tempted 
to  think  that  God  can  not  pardon  delinquencies  so 
frequent  and  unprovoked,  and  that  we  shall  certainly 
perish  on  the  journey,  and  never  arrive  at  that  jour- 
ney's blissful  end.  Let  us  be  careful  that  such  feel- 
ings lead  us  not  into  temptation ;  that  they  do  not 
close  our  eyes  and  our  hearts  against  the  infinity  of 
God's  mercy  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  that  they  do  not  teach 
us  to  forget  that  "  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleans- 
eth  us  from  all  sin ;"  yea,  all,  "however  deep,  how- 
ever oft-repeated,  if  it  be  but  faithfully  and  earnestly 
sought  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  97 

if,  through  the  same  promised  aid,  the  sin  be  truly 
repented  of,  and  steadily  and  perseveringly  forsak- 
en." Perhaps  you  may  find  it  difficult  to  think  so, 
but  remember  that  your  thoughts  are,  blessed  be 
God,  not  the  limits  of  his  mercy,  for  has  he  not  him- 
self declared  that  "he  is  able  to  do  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  can  ask  or  think  ?"  Be  not,  therefore, 
"discouraged  because  of  the  way;"  look  to  him  who 
was  "  the  author,"  to  be  also  "  the  finisher  of  your 
faith,"  and  you  shall  yet,  under  his  divine  and  bless- 
ed guidance,  reach  the  haven  where  you  would  be. 
— Henry  Blunt. 


ANGEL  OF  PATIENCE. 

Angel  of  Patience  !  sent  to  calm 
Our  feverish  brows  with  cooling  palm ; 
To  lay  the  storms  of  hope  and  fear, 
And  reconcile  life's  smile  and  tear; 
The  throbs  of  wounded  pride  to  still, 
And  make  our  own  our  Father's  will. 
Oh  !  thou  who  mournest  on  thy  Avay, 
With  longings  for  the  coming  day; 
He  walks  with  thee,  that  angel  kind. 
And  gently  whispers,  "  Be  resigned." 
Bear  up,  bear  on,  the  end  shall  tell 
The  dear  Lord  ordereth  all  things  well. 

J.  G.  WlIITTIEKo 


98  LIGHT  AT  EYENIKG  TIME. 


JOINT  HEIRS  WITH  CHRIST 

Andif  children^  then  heirs  ;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs 
with  ChiHst:  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  hin^,  that  we  may 
be  also  glorified  together. — Romans  viii.,  1 7. 

Observe  how  he  enhances  the  gift  by  Httle  and 
Httle.  For,  since  it  is  a  possible  case  to  be  children, 
and  yet  not  become  heirs — for  it  is  not  all  children 
that  are  heirs  —  he  adds  this  besides,  that  we  are 
heirs.  But  the  Jews,  besides  their  not  having  the 
same  adoption  as  we,  were  also  cast  out  from  the 
inheritance ;  for  "  he  will  miserably  destroy  those 
wicked  men,  and  will  let  out  the  vineyard  to  other 
husbandmen. "  And  before  this  he  said  that  "many 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  and 
shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  but  the  children  of  the 
kingdom  shall  be  cast  out."  But  even  here  he  does 
not  pause,  but  sets  down  something  even  greater 
than  this.  What  may  this  be,  then  ?  That  we  are 
heirs  of  God ;  and  so  he  adds,  "Heirs  of  God."  And, 
what  is  still  more,  that  we  are  not  simply  heirs,  but 
iAso  joint  heirs  tvith  Christ. 

Observe  how  ambitious  he  is  of  bringing  us  near 
to  the  Master.  For,  since  it  is  not  all  children  that 
are  heirs,  he  shows  that  we  are  both  children  and 
heirs ;  next,  as  it  is  not  all  heirs  that  are  heirs  to 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  99 

any  great  amount,  he  shows  that  we  have  this  point 
with  us  too,  as  we  are  heirs  of  God.  Again,  since 
it  were  possible  to  be  God's  heir,  but  in  no  sense 
joint  Iieirs  with  the  Only-Begotten,  he  shows  that 
we  have  this  also. 

And  consider  his  wisdom.  For,  after  throwing 
the  distasteful  part  into  a  narrow  compass,  when  he 
was  saying  what  was  to  become  of  such  as  "  live 
after  the  flesh,"  for  instance,  that  "  they  shall  die," 
when  he  comes  to  the  more  soothing  part,  he  lead- 
eth  forth  his  discourse  into  a  large  room,  and  so  ex- 
pands it  on  the  recompense  of  rewards,  and  in  point- 
ing out  that  the  gifts,  too,  are  manifold  and  great ;  for 
if  the  being  a  child  were  a  grace  unspeakable,  just 
think  how  great  a  thing  it  is  to  be  heir  too !  But 
if  this  be  great,  much  more  is  it  to  be  joint  heir. 

Then,  to  show  that  the  gift  is  not  of  grace  only, 
and  to  give,  at  the  same  time,  a  credibility  to  what 
he  says,  he  proceeds,  "  If  so  be  that  we  sufl?er  with 
him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together."  If,  he 
would  say,  we  be  sharers  with  him  in  what  is  pain- 
ful, much  more  shall  it  be  so  in  what  is  good.  For 
he  who  bestowed  such  blessings  upon  those  who 
had  wrought  no  good,  how,  when  he  seeth  them  la- 
borincr  and  sufferinfj  so  much,  shall  he  do  else  than 
give  them  greater  requital ! 

Having,  then,  shown  that  the  thing  was  matter  of 


100  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

return,  to  make  men  give  credit  to  what  was  said, 
and  prevent  any  from  doubting,  he  shows  farther 
that  it  has  the  virtue  of  a  gift.  The  one  he  showed, 
that  what  was  said  might  gain  credit  even  with  those 
that  doubted,  and  that  the  receivers  of  it  might  not 
feel  ashamed,  as  being  evermore  receiving  salvation 
for  naught ;  and  the  other,  that  you  might  see  that 
God  outdoeth  the  toils  by  his  recompenses.  And 
the  one  he  hath  shown  in  the  words,  "  If  we  suffer 
with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together;" 
but  the  other  in  what  follows  respecting  the  great- 
ness of  the  reward. 

THE  GLORY  OF  OUR  INHERITANCE. 

For  we  shall  receive  again  our  bodies  incorrupti- 
ble, and  be  glorified  together,  and  reign  together  with 
Christ.  How  great  this  is  we  shall  see  from  hence 
— or,  rather,  there  is  no  means  of  making  us  see  it 
clearly  now.  But,  to  start  from  our  present  bless- 
ings, and  to  get  from  them  at  least  some  kind  of 
scanty  notice  of  it,  I  will  endeavor,  so  far  as  I  may  be 
able,  to  put  before  you  what  I  have  been  speaking  of 

Tell  me,  then,  if,  when  you  were  grown  old,  and 
were  living  in  poverty,  and  any  one  were  to  prom- 
ise suddenly  to  make  you  young,  and  to  bring  you 
to  the  very  prime  of  life,  and  to  render  you  very 
strong  and  pre-eminently  beautiful,  and  were  to  give 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  101 

you  the  kingdom  of  the  whole  earth  for  a  thousand 
years,  a  kingdom  in  a  state  of  the  deepest  peace, 
what  is  there  that  you  would  not  choose  to  do  and 
to  suffer  to  gain  this  promise  ?  See,  then,  Christ 
promises  not  this,  but  much  more  than  this.  For  the 
distance  between  old  age  and  youth  is  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  difference  of  corruption  and  incor- 
ruption,  nor  that  of  a  kingdom  and  poverty  to  that 
of  the  future  glory  and  the  present,  but  the  differ- 
ence is  that  of  dreams  and  a  reality. 

Or,  rather,  I  have  yet  said  nothing  to  the  purpose, 
since  there  is  no  language  capable  of  setting  before 
you  the  greatness  of  the  difference  between  things 
to  come  and  things  present.     And  as  for  time,  there 
is  no  place  for  the  idea  of  difference,  for  what  mode 
is  there  for  a  man  to  compare  with  our  present  state 
a  life  that  hath  no  end  ?     And  as  for  the  peace,  it 
is  as  far  removed  from  any  present  peace  as  peace 
is  different  from  war ;  and  for  the  incorruption,  it  is 
as  much  better  as  a  clear  pearl  is  than  a  clod  of 
clay.    Or,  rather,  say  as  great  a  thing  as  one  may, 
nothing  can  put  it  before  you ;  for  were  I  even  to 
compare  the  beauty  of  our  bodies  to  the  light  of  the 
sunbeam,  or  the  brightest  lightning,  I  shall  not  yet 
be  saying  aught  that  is  worthy  of  their  brdliancy. 
At  present,  if  any  one  were  to  lead  thee  into  a  pal- 
ace, and  in  the  presence  of  all  were  to  give  thee  an 


102  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

opportunity  of  conversing  with  the  king,  and  make 
thee  sit  at  his  table  and  join  in  his  fare,  thou  wouldst 
call  thyself  the  happiest  of  men.  But  when  you  are 
going  up  to  heaven,  and  stand  by  the  King  of  the 
universe  himself,  and  vie  with  angels  in  brightness, 
and  enjoy  even  that  unutterable  glory,  do  you  hesi- 
tate ?  And  suppose  one  must  need  give  up  prop- 
erty, or  put  off  even  life  itself^  one  ought  to  leap  and 
exult,  and  mount  on  wings  of  pleasure.  But  you, 
that  may  get  an  office  as  a  place  to  pillage  from 
(for  call  a  thing  of  this  sort  gain  I  can  not),  put  all 
you  have  to  hazard.  But  when  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  set  before  you,  that  office  which  hath  none 
to  supersede  you  in  it,  and  God  bids  you  take,  not  a 
part  of  a  corner  of  the  earth,  but  the  whole  heaven 
entirely,  are  you  hesitating,  and  reluctant,  and  gap- 
ing after  money,  and  forgetful  that  if  the  parts  of 
that  heaven  which  we  see  are  so  fair  and  beautiful, 
how  greatly  so  must  the  upper  heaven  be,  and  the 
heaven  of  heaven  ? 

But  since  we  have  as  yet  no  means  of  seeing  this 
with  our  bodily  eyes,  ascend  in  thy  thought,  and, 
standing  above  this  heaven,  look  up  unto  that  heav- 
en beyond  this,  into  that  height  without  a  bound,  into 
that  light  surcharged  with  awe,  into  the  crowds  of 
angels,  into  the  endless  ranks  of  archangels,  into  the 
rest  of  the  incorporeal  powers.     What  language  is 


LIGHT  AT  EVEN  IN  a  TIME.  103 

to  set  before  us  that  blessedness,  brightness,  glory  ? 
Alas  !  my  soul.  For  weeping  comes  upon  me  and 
great  groaning  as  I  reflect  what  good  things  we 
have  fallen  from,  what  blessedness  we  are  estranged 
from.  For  estranged  we  are  ;  speak  not,  then,  of 
hell  to  me  now,  for  more  grievous  than  any  hell  is 
the  fall  from  this  glory,  worse  than  punishments  un- 
numbered the  estrangement  from  that  lot.  But  still 
we  are  gaping  after  this  present  world,  and  we  take 
not  thought  of  the  devil's  cunning,  who  by  little 
things  bereaves  us  of  those  great  ones,  and  gives  us 
clay  that  he  may  snatch  from  us  gold,  or,  rather,  that 
he  may  snatch  heaven  from  us,  and  showeth  us  a 
shadow  that  he  may  dispossess  us  of  the  reality,  and 
put  phantoms  before  us  in  dreams  (for  such  is  the 
wealth  of  this  world),  that  at  daybreak  he  might 
prove  us  the  poorest  of  men.  Laying  these  things  to 
heart,  late  though  it  be,  let  us  fly  from  this  craft,  and 
pass  to  the  side  of  things  to  come. — ChrysostOxM. 

"  Arise,  my  soul,  on  wings  sublime, 
Above  the  vanities  of  time ; 
Let  faith  now  pierce  the  veil,  and  see 
The  glories  of  eternity. 
Born  by  a  new  celestial  birth, 
"Why  should  I  grovel  here  on  earth  ? 
Why  grasp  at  vain  and  fleeting  toys. 
So  near  to  heaven's  eternal  joys?" 


104  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


ACCESS  TO  GOD. 
However  early  in  the  morning  you  seek  the  gate 
of  access,  you  find  it  ah'eady  open ;  and  however 
deep  the  midnight  moment  when  you  find  yourself 
in  the  sudden  arms  of  death,  the  winged  prayer  crai 
bring  an  instant  Savior  near.  And  this  wherever 
you  are.  It  needs  not  that  you  ascend  some  special 
Pisgah  or  Moriah.  It  needs  not  that  you  should 
enter  some  awful  shrine,  or  put  off  your  shoes  on 
some  holy  ground.  Could  a  memento  be  reared  on 
every  spot  from  which  an  acceptable  prayer  has 
passed  away,  and  on  which  a  prompt  answer  has 
come  down,  we  should  find  Jehovah-Shaimnah/' the 
Lord  hath  been  here,"  inscribed  on  many  a  cottage 
hearth  and  many  a  dungeon  floor.  We  should  find 
it  not  only  in  Jerusalem's  proud  Temple  and  David's 
cedar  galleries,  but  in  the  fisherman's  cottage  by  the 
brink  of  Gennesaret,  and  in  the  upper  chamber  where 
Pentecost  began.  And  whether  it  be  the  field  where 
Isaac  went  to  meditate,  or  the  rocky  knoll  where 
Jacob  lay  down  to  sleep,  or  the  brook  where  Israel 
wrestled,  or  the  den  where  Daniel  gazed  on  the  hun- 
gry lions  and  the  lions  gazed  on  him,  or  the  hill- 
sides where  the  man  of  sorrows  prayed  all  night,  we 
should  still  discern  the  prints  of  the  ladder's  feet  let 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  105 

down  from  heaven — the  landing-place  of  mercies, 
because  the  starting-point  of  prayer.  And  all  this 
whatsoever  you  are.  It  needs  no  saint,  no  profi- 
cient in  piety,  no  adept  in  eloquent  language,  no  dig- 
nity of  earthly  rank.  It  needs  but  a  simple  Hannah 
or  a  Hsping  Samuel.  It  needs  but  a  bhnd  beggar 
or  a  loathsome  lazar.  It  needs  but  a  penitent  pub- 
lican or  a  dying  thief  And  it  needs  no  sharp  or- 
deal, no  costly  passport,  no  painful  expiation,  to  bring 
you  to  the  mercy-seat ;  or,  rather,  I  should  say,  it 
needs  the  costliest  of  all ;  but  the  blood  of  atone- 
ment— the  Savior's  merit — the  name  of  Jesus,  price- 
less as  they  are,  cost  the  sinner  nothing.  They  are 
freely  put  at  hi^  disposal,  and  instantly  and  constant- 
ly he  may  use  them.  This  access  to  God  in  every 
place,  at  every  moment,  without  any  price  or  per- 
sonal merit,  is  it  not  a  privilege  ? — James  Hamilton. 


Thou  art  with  me,  O  my  Father, 
In  the  changing  scenes  of  life, 

In  loneliness  of  spirit, 

And  in  weariness  of  strife. 

My  sufferings,  my  comfortings, 

Alternate  at  thy  will ; 

I  trust  Thee,  O  my  Father, 

I  trust  Thee,  and  am  still. 
H 


106  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

THE  TRIAL  OF  0  UR  FAITH. 

The  first  and  great  end  of  God's  permitting  the 
temptations  which  bring  heaviness  on  his  children 
is  the  trial  of  their  faith,  which  is  tried  by  these  even 
as  gold  by  the  fire.  Now  we  know  gold  tried  in 
the  fire  is  purified  thereby,  is  separated  from  its 
dross.  And  so  is  faith  in  the  fire  of  temptation  ;  the 
more  it  is  tried,  the  more  it  is  purified.  Yea,  and 
not  only  purified,  but  also  strengthened,  confirmed, 
increased  abundantly  by  so  many  more  proofs  of 
the  wisdom  and  power,  the  love  and  faithfulness  of 
God.  This,  then,  to  increase  our  faith,  is  one  gra- 
cious end  of  God's  permitting  those  manifold  tempt- 
ations. 

They  serve  to  try,  to  purify,  to  confirm,  and  in- 
crease that  living  hope  also,  whereunto  "  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  begotten 
us  again  of  his  abundant  mercy."  Indeed,  our  hope 
can  not  but  increase  in  the  same  proportions  with 
our  faith.  On  this  foundation  it  stands.  Believing 
in  his  name,  living  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  we 
hope  for,  we  have  confident  expectation  of  the  glory 
which  shall  be  revealed ;  and,  consequently,  what- 
ever strengthens  our  faith,  increases  our  hope  also. 
At  the  same  time,  it  increases  our  joy  in  the  Lord, 
which  can  not  but  attend  a  hope  full  of  immortality. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  107 

In  this  view  the  apostle  exhorts  behevers  to  "  re- 
joice that  ye  are  partakers  of  the  sufferings  of 
Christ."  On  this  very  account  "  happy  are  you  ;  for 
the  spirit  of  glory  and  of  God  resteth  upon  you. " 
And  hereby  ye  are  enabled,  even  in  the  midst  of 
sufferings,  to  "  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory."  They  rejoice  the  more,  because  the  tri- 
als which  increase  their  faith  and  hope  increase 
their  love  also ;  both  their  gratitude  to  God  for  all 
his  mercies,  and  their  good  will  to  all  mankind.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  more  deeply  sensible  they  are  of  the 
loving -kindness  of  God  their  Savior,  the  more  is 
their  heart  inflamed  with  love  to  him  who  first  loved 
us.  The  clearer  and  stronger  evidence  they  have 
of  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed,  the  more  do  they 
love  him  who  hath  purchased  it  for  them,  and  given 
them  the  earnest  thereof  in  their  hearts ;  and  this, 
the  increase  of  their  love,  is  another  end  of  the  tempt- 
ations permitted  to  come  upon  them. 

Yet  another  end  of  temptations  is  advance  in  ho- 
liness, holiness  of  heart,  and  holiness  of  conversa- 
tion ;  the  latter  naturally  resulting  from  the  former, 
for  a  good  tree  will  bring  forth  good  fruit ;  and  all 
inward  holiness  is  the  immediate  fruit  of  the  faith 
that  worketh  by  love.  By  this  the  blessed  Spirit 
purifies  the  heart  from  pride,  self-will,  passions,  from 
love  of  the  world,  from  foolish  and  hurtful  desires, 


108  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

from  vile  and  vain  affections.  Besides  that,  sancti- 
fied afflictions  have  (through  the  grace  of  God)  an 
immediate  and  direct  tendency  to  hohness.  Through 
the  operation  of  his  Spirit,  they  humble  more  and 
more,  and  abase  the  soul  before  God.  They  calm 
and  weaken  our  turbulent  spirit,  tame  the  fierceness 
of  our  nature,  soften  our  obstinacy  and  self-will,  cru- 
cify us  to  the  world,  and  bring  us  to  expect  all  our 
strength  from,  and  to  seek  all  our  happiness  in  God. 

And  all  these  terminate  in  that  great  end — that 
our  faith,  hope,  love,  and  holiness  may  be  found  (if 
it  doth  not  yet  appear)  unto  praise  from  God  him- 
self, and  honor  from  men  and  angels,  and  glory  as- 
signed by  the  great  Judge  to  all  that  have  endured 
to  the  end.  And  this  will  be  assigned  in  that  awful 
day  to  every  man  according  to  his  works,  according 
to  the  work  which  God  had  wrought  in  his  heart, 
and  the  outward  works  which  he  has  wrought  for 
God,  and  likewise  according  to  what  he  had  suf- 
fered ;  so  that  all  these  trials  are  unspeakable  gain. 
So  many  ways  do  these  "  light  afflictions,  which  are 
but  for  a  moment,  work  out  for  us  a  far  more  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 

Add  to  this  the  advantage  which  others  may  re- 
ceive by  seeing  our  behavior  under  affliction.  We 
find  by  experience  example  frequently  makes  a 
deeper  impression  upon  us  than  precept.    And  what 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  109 

examples  have  a  stronger  influence,  not  only  on 
those  who  are  partakers  of  the  like  precious  faith, 
but  even  on  them  who  have  not  known  God,  than 
that  of  a  soul  calm  and  serene  in  the  midst  of  storms; 
sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing ;  meekly  accepting 
whatever  is  the  will  of  God,  however  grievous  it 
may  be  to  nature ;  saying,  in  sickness  and  pain, 
"  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I 
not  drink  it  ?"  in  loss  or  want,  "  The  Lord  gave  ; 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away :  blessed  be  his  holy 
name !" 

I  am  to  conclude  with  some  inferences.  And, 
first,  how  wide  is  the  difference  between  darkness 
of  soul  and  heaviness  ?  which,  nevertheless,  are  so 
generally  confounded  with  each  other  even  by  ex- 
perienced Christians  !  Darkness,  or  the  wilderness 
state,  implies  a  total  loss  of  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost; 
heaviness  does  not;  in  the  midst  of  this  we  may  re- 
joice with  joy  unspeakable.  They  that  are  in  dark- 
ness have  lost  the  peace  of  God ;  they  that  are  in 
heaviness  have  not ;  so  far  from  it  that  at  the  very 
time  peace  as  well  as  grace  may  be  multiplied  unto 
them.  In  the  former,  the  love  of  God  is  waxed  cold, 
if  it  be  not  utterly  extinguished ;  in  the  latter,  it  re- 
tains its  full  force,  or,  rather,  increases  daily.  In 
those,  faith  itself,  if  not  totally  lost,  is,  however,  griev- 
ously decayed.     Their  evidence  and  conviction  of 


no  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

things  not  seen,  particularly  of  the  pardoning  love 
of  God,  is  not  so  clear  or  strong  as  in  time  past, 
and  their  trust  in  him  is  proportionably  weakened. 
These,  though  they  see  him  not,  yet  have  a  clear, 
unshaken  confidence  in  God,  and  an  abiding  evi- 
dence of  that  love,  whereby  all  their  sins  are  blotted 
out.  So  that,  as  long  as  we  can  distinguish  faith 
from  unbelief,  hope  from  despair,  peace  from  war, 
the  love  of  God  from  the  love  of  the  world,  we  may 
infallibly  distinguish  heaviness  from  darkness. 

We  may  learn,  therefore,  that  there  may  be  need 
of  heaviness,  but  there  can  be  no  need  of  darkness. 
There  may  be  need  of  our  being  in  heaviness  for  a 
SEASON,  in  order  to  the  ends  above  recited ;  at  least 
in  this  sense,  as  it  is  a  natural  result  of  those  mani- 
fold temptations  which  are  needful  to  try  and  in- 
crease our  faith,  to  confirm  and  enlarge  our  hope,  to 
purify  our  hearts  from  all  unholy  tempers,  and  to 
perfect  us  in  love.  And,  by  consequence,  they  are 
needful,  in  order  to  brighten  our  crown,  and  add  to 
our  eternal  weight  of  glory.  But  we  can  not  say 
that  darkness  is  needful  in  order  to  any  of  these  ends. 
It  is  no  way  conducive  to  them ;  the  loss  of  faith, 
hope,  love,  is  surely  neither  conducive  to  holiness, 
nor  to  the  increase  of  that  reward  in  heaven  which 
will  be  in  proportion  to  our  holiness  on  earth. 

From  the  apostle's  manner  of  speaking,  we  may 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIM2:.  Ill 

gather  that  even  heaviness  is  not  always  needful. 
Now  for  a  season,  if  need  be ;  so  it  is  not  needful 
for  ALL  PERSONS,  nor  for  any  person  at  all  times. 
God  is  able — he  has  both  power  and  wisdom  to  work 
when  he  pleases  the  same  work  of  grace  in  any 
soul  by  other  means,  and,  in  some  instances,  he  does 
so.  He  causes  those  whom  it  pleaseth  him  to  go  on 
from  strength  to  strength  even  till  they  perfect  ho^ 
LiNEss  IN  HIS  FEAR  with  scarce  any  heaviness  at  all, 
as  having  an  absolute  power  over  the  heart  of  man, 
and  moving  all  the  springs  of  it  at  his  pleasure.  But 
these  cases  are  rare.  God  generally  sees  good  to 
try  "  acceptable  men  in  the  furnace  of  affliction," 
so  that  manifold  temptations  and  heaviness,  more 
or  less,  are  usually  the  portion  of  his  dearest  chil- 
dren. 

We  ought,  therefore,  to  watch  and  pray,  and  use 
our  utmost  endeavors  to  avoid  falhng  into  darkness. 
But  we  need  not  be  solicitous  how  to  avoid,  so  much 
as  how  to  improve  by  heaviness.  Our  great  care 
should  be  so  to  behave  ourselves  under  it,  so  to  wait 
upon  the  Lord  therein,  that  it  may  fully  answer  all 
the  design  of  his  love  in  permitting  it  to  come  upon 
us,  that  it  may  be  a  mean  of  increasing  our  faith,  of 
confirming  our  hope,  of  perfecting  us  in  all  holiness. 
Whenever  it  comes,  let  us  have  an  eye  to  these  gra- 
cious ends,  for  which  it  is  permitted,  and  use  all  dili- 


112  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

gence,  that  we  may  not  "  make  void  the  council  of 
God  against  ourselves."  Let  us  earnestly  work  to- 
gether with  him,  by  the  grace  which  he  is  continu- 
ally giving  us,  in  "  purifying  ourselves  from  all  pol- 
lution both  of  flesh  and  spirit,"  and  daily  "  growing 
in  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  till  we  are 
received  into  his  everlasting  kingdom.— John  Wes- 
ley. 


C  ONTENTMENT, 

Were  it  not  that  God  supports  me,  and  by  his  Om- 
nipotent goodness  often  totally  suspends  all  sense  of 
worldly  things,  I  could  not  sustain  the  weight  many 
days,  perhaps  hours.     But  even  in  this  low  ebb  of 

fortune  I  am  not  without  some  kind  interval 

Upon  the  best  observation  I  could  ever  make,  I  am 
induced  to  believe  that  it  is  much  easier  to  be  con- 
tented without  riches  than  with  them.  It  is  so  nat- 
ural for  a  rich  man  to  make  his  gold  his  god ;  for, 
whatever  a  person  loves  most,  that  thing,  be  it  what 
it  will,  he  will  certainly  make  his  god.  It  is  so  diffi- 
cult not  to  trust  in  it,  not  to  depend  on  it  for  support 
and  happiness,  that  I  do  not  know  one  rich  man  in 
the  world  with  whom  I  would  exchange  conditions. 
— The  Mother  of  the  Wesleys. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  113 

LETTER  TO  AN  AGED  PERSON. 
Much  honored  Sir, — Grace,  mercy,  and  peace  be 
to  you.  I  beseech  you,  sir,  by  the  salvation  of  your 
precious  soul,  and  the  mercies  of  God,  make  good 
and  sure  work  of  your  salvation,  and  try  upon  w^hat 
ground-stone  you  have  builded.  Worthy  and  dear 
sir,  if  ye  be  upon  sinking  sand,  a  storm  of  death  and 
a  blast  will  loose  Christ  and  you,  and  wash  you  off 
the  rock  !  Oh !  for  the  Lord's  sake,  look  narrowly 
to  the  work.  Read  over  your  Hfe  with  the  light  of 
God's  daylight  and  sun.  It  is  good  to  look  to  your 
compass  and  all  you  have  need  of  ere  you  take  ship- 
ping, for  no  wind  can  blow  you  back  again.  Re- 
member, when  the  race  is  ended,  and  the  flag  either 
won  or  lost,  and  you  are  in  the  utmost  circle  and 
border  of  time,  and  put  your  foot  within  the  march 
of  eternity,  all  your  good  things  of  this  short  night- 
dream  shall  seem  to  you  like  the  ashes  of  a  blaze 
of  thorns  or  straw,  and  your  poor  soul  shall  be  cry- 
ing, "  Lodging,  lodging,  for  God's  sake ! "  Then 
shall  your  soul  be  more  glad  at  one  of  your  Lord's 
lovely  smiles  than  if  you  had  the  charters  of  three 
worlds  for  all  eternity.  Let  pleasures  and  gain, 
will  and  desires  of  this  world,  be  put  over  in  God's 
hands  as  arrested  goods  that  you  can  not  claim. 
Now,  when  you  are  drinking  the  grounds  of  your 


114  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

cup,  and  are  upon  the  utmost  ends  of  the  last  link 
of  time,  and  old  age,  like  death's  long  shadow,  is 
casting  a  covering  upon  your  days,  it  is  no  time  to 
court  this  vain  life,  and  to  set  love  and  heart  upon  it. 
It  is  near  after  supper ;  seek  rest  and  ease  for  your 
soul  in  God  through  Christ.  Come  in,  come  in  to 
Christ,  and  see  what  you  want,  and  find  it  in  him. 
He  is  the  short  cut,  as  we  used  to  say,  and  the  near- 
est way  to  an  outgate  of  all  your  burdens.  I  dare 
avouch,  you  shall  be  dearly  welcome  to  him.  An- 
gels' pens,  angels'  tongues,  nay,  as  many  worlds  of 
angels  as  there  are  drops  of  water  in  all  the  seas, 
and  fountains,  and  rivers  of  the  earth,  can  not  paint 
him  out  to  you.  I  think  his  sweetness,  since  I  was 
a  prisoner,  has  swelled  upon  me  to  the  greatness  of 
two  heavens.  Oh  for  a  soul  as  wide  as  the  utmost 
circle  of  the  highest  heaven,  that  containeth  all,  to 
contain  his  love  ! — Samuel  Rutherford. 


OUR  TRIALS. 
Trials  are  medicines  which  our  gracious  and 
wise  Physician  prescribes  because  we  need  them, 
and  he  proportions  the  frequency  and  the  weight  of 
them  to  what  the  case  requires.  Let  us  trust  in  his 
skill,  and  thank  him  for  his  prescriptions. — John 
Newton. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  115 


''CASTING  ALL   YOUR  CARE  UPON HIMP 

LoED,  it  belongs  not  to  my  care, 

Wlietlier  I  die  or  live ; 
To  love  and  serve  Tliee  is  my  share, 

And  shall  be  while  I  live. 
If  life  be  long,  I  will  be  glad, 

That  I  may  long  obey; 
If  short,  yet  how  can  I  be  sad 

To  soar  to  endless  day? 

Christ  leads  me  through  no  darker  rooms 

Than  he  went  through  before; 
He  that  unto  Christ's  kingdom  comes, 

Must  enter  by  His  door. 
Come,  Lord,  when  grace  has  made  me  meet 

Thy  blessed  face  to  see; 
For  if  Thy  work  on  earth  be  sweet. 

What  will  Thy  glory  be. 

Then  shall  I  end  my  sad  complaints. 

My  weary,  sinful  days ; 
And  join  with  the  triumphal  hosts 

That  sing  Jehovah's  praise. 
My  knowledge  of  that  life  is  .small. 

The  eye  of  faith  is  dim ; 
But  'tis  enough  that  Christ  knows  all, 

And  I  shall  be  with  him. 

KiciiAED  Baxter. 


116  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

COMFORT  IN  TRIE  ULATION. 

There  is  an  island  in  a  distant  sea  from  whose 
shores  the  fishermen  sail  in  tiny  crafts  to  procure 
the  treasures  of  the  deep.  During  their  absence 
thick  mists  often  descend  and  cover  highland,  cliff] 
and  beacon  with  so  thick  a  veil  that  these  hardy 
mariners  are  left  without  a  mark  by  which  to  steer 
their  laden  barks.  But  in  these  dull  hours  they  are 
not  left  to  wander  unguided  on  the  pathless  sea. 
When  the  time  for  their  return  arrives,  the  women 
of  the  islet — mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and  daughters 
— descend  to  the  shores  and  raise  the  voice  of  song. 
Borne  on  the  quiet  air,  their  voices  soon  fall  sweet- 
ly on  the  ears  of  the  loved  ones  at  sea.  Guided  by 
the  well-known  sounds,  they  steer  their  boats  in  safe- 
ty to  the  shore. 

And  thus  to  thee,  oh  Christian,  comes  the  voice  of 
love  from  the  celestial  shore,  as  thou  wanderest,  a 
bewildered  child  of  tribulation,  on  the  misty  sea  of 
life.  Hearken !  "  Be  of  good  cheer !"  is  the  cry 
that  greets  thee.  It  comes  from  Jesus,  who  has 
overcome  this  world,  which  is  the  scene  and  source 
of  your  trials.  His  conquest  of  your  adversary  is 
the  pledge  of  your  victory.  Therefore,  "Be  of  good 
cheer." — Anon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  117 

SILENCE  OF  GOD. 
It  sometimes  seems  as  if  God  cared  for  nothing. 
The  wicked  are  at  ease.  The  good  are  vexed  in- 
cessantly. The  world  is  full  of  misery  and  confu- 
sion. The  darling  of  the  flock  is  always  made  the 
sacrifice.  Some  child,  in  the  very  midst  of  its  glee, 
becomes  suddenly  silent — as  a  music-box,  its  spring 
giving  way,  stops  in  the  midst  of  its  strain,  and  nev- 
er plays  out  the  melody.  The  mother  staggers  and 
wanders  through  day  and  night,  as  if  these  were 
mingled  into  one,  and  that  shot  through  with  preter- 
natural influence  of  woe.  But  think  not  that  God's 
silence  is  coldness  or  indifference.  When  Christ 
stood  by  the  dead,  the  silence  of  tears  interpreted 
his  sympathy  more  wonderfully  than  even  that  voice 
which  afterward  called  back  the  footsteps  of  the 
brother  from  the  grave,  and  planted  them  in  life 
again.  God's  stillness  is  full  of  brooding.  Not  one 
tear  shall  be  shed  by  you  that  does  not  hang  heavi- 
er at  his  heart  than  any  world  upon  his  hand. — H. 
W.  Beecher. 


It  was  when  the  doors  were  shut  that  He  who 
came  to  succor  and  to  save  stood  in  the  midst  of 
his  disciples. 


118  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


WE  ARE  ON  OUR  WAY  TO  G OD. 

Feom  Egypt  lately  come, 

Where  death  and  darkness  reign, 
We  seek  our  new,  our  better  home, 

Where  we  our  rest  shall  gain. 
Hallelujah ! 
We  are  on  our  way  to  God ! 

To  Canaan's  sacred  bound 
We  haste  with  songs  of  joy. 

Where  peace  and  liberty  are  found, 
And  sweets  that  never  cloy. 
Hallelujah ! 

We  are  on  our  way  to  God ! 

There  sin  and  sorrow  cease. 

And  every  conflict's  o'er; 
There  we  shall  dwell  in  endless  peace, 

And  never  hunger  more.   , 
Hallelujah ! 
We  are  on  our  way  to  God ! 

There  in  celestial  strains 

Enraptured  myriads  sing; 
There  love  in  every  bosom  reigns, 

For  God  himself  is  King. 
Hallelujah ! 
We  are  on  our  way  to  God ! 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  119 

We  soon  shall  join  the  throng, 

Their  pleasure  we  shall  share, 
And  sing  the  everlasting  song 

With  all  the  ransomed  there. 
Hallelujah ! 
We  are  on  our  way  to  God ! 

How  sweet  the  prospect  is ! 

It  cheers  the  pilgrim's  breast ; 
We're  journeying  through  the  wilderness, 

But  soon  shall  gain  our  rest ! 
Hallelujah ! 
We  are  on  our  way  to  God ! — Thomas  Kelly. 


THROUGH  DARKNESS  TO  LIGHT. 

As  we  pass  beneath  the  hills  which  have  been 
shaken  by  earthquake  and  torn  by  convulsions,  we 
find  that  periods  of  perfect  repose  succeed  those  of 
destruction.  The  pools  of  calm  water  lie  clear  be- 
neath their  fallen  rocks,  the  water-lilies  gleam,  and 
the  reeds  whisper  among  their  shadows ;  the  vil- 
lage rises  again  over  the  forgotten  graves,  and  its 
church-tower,  white  through  the  storm  twilight,  pro- 
claims ^  renewed  appeal  to  his  protection  in  whose 
hand  are  "all  the  corners  of  the  earth,  and  the 
strength  of  the  hills  is  his  also."  ....  It  is  just 
where  "  the  mountains  falling  cometh  to  naught,  and 


120  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

the  rock  is  removed  out  of  his  place,"  that,  in  the 
process  of  years,  the  fairest  meadows  bloom  be- 
tween the  fragments,  the  clearest  rivulets  murmur 
from  their  crevices  among  the  flowers  ;  and  the  clus- 
tered cottages,  each  sheltered  beneath  some  strength 
of  mossy  stone,  now  to  be  removed  no  more,  and, 
with  their  pastured  flocks  around  them,  safe  from 
the  eagle's  swoop  and  the  wolf's  ravine,  have  writ- 
ten upon  their  fronts,  in  simple  words,  the  mount- 
aineer's faith  in  the  ancient  promise,  "  Neither  shalt 
thou  be  afraid  of  destruction  when  it  cometh,  for 
thou  shalt  be  in  league  with  the  stones  of  the  field, 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  be  at  peace  with 
thee." — John  Ruskin. 


BUILDING. 

If  the  architect  of  a  house  had  one  plan,  and  the 
contractor  had  another,  what  conflicts  would  there 
be !  How  many  walls  would  have  to  come  down, 
how  many  doors  and  windows  would  need  to  be 
altered  before  the  two  could  harmonize !  Of  the 
building  of  life,  God  is  the  Architect,  and  man  the 
contractor.  God  has  one  plan,  and  man  has  anoth- 
er. Is  it  strange  that  there  are  clashings  and  colli- 
sions ? — H.  W.  Beecher. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  121 


NIGHT  OF  S0EB0W—3I0RNING  OF  JOY. 

^^  Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  ijt  the 
morning^ 

Trials  are  ill  to  bear.  To  be  reduced  from  af- 
fluence to  poverty ;  to  lie  on  a  bed  of  languor ;  to 
pass  sleepless  nights  of  pain ;  to  be  exposed  to  evil 
tongues ;  to  sit  amid  the  ruins  of  fortune ;  to  lay 
loved  ones  in  a  lonesome  grave — such  things  are  not 
joyous,  but  grievous.  Winter,  no  doubt,  is  not  the 
pleasant  season  that  summer  brings,  v\^ith  her  songs, 
and  flowers,  and  long,  bright  sunny  days.  Bitter 
medicines,  no  doubt,  are  not  savory  meat;  yet  he 
who  believes  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for 
good  will  be  ready  to  thank  God  for  physic  as  well 
as  food  ;  and  for  the  winter  frost  that  kills  the  weeds 
and  breaks  up  the  soil,  as  for  the  dewy  nights  and 
sunny  days  that  ripen  the  fields  of  corn.  May  God 
give  us  such  a  faith  !  With  nature  weak,  and  grace 
imperfect — when  there  is  no  lifting  of  the  cloud,  and 
trials  are  severe  and  long  protracted — oh !  though 
it  may  be  easy  for  an  onlooker  to  preach  patience, 
it  is  not  easy  for  a  sufferer  to  practice  it.  In  such 
circumstances,  how  prone  we  are  to  take  the  case 
out  of  God's  hands,  and,  getting  discontented  with 
his  discipline,  how  ready  are  we  to  cry,  "  How  long, 


122  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

O  Lord,  how  long  ?  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me ;"  or,  "  Take  away  this,  and  give  me 
any  one  else  to  drink."  Yet  let  me  have  a  firm  faith 
in  God's  truth  and  love ;  let  me  be  confident  that 
he  will  do  what  he  has  said,  and  perform  all  that  he 
has  promised,  and  I  shall  discover  mercy's  bow  bent 
on  fortune's  blackest  cloud,  and,  under  the  most  try- 
ing providences,  shall  enjoy  in  my  heart,  and  exhib- 
it to  others  in  my  temper,  the  blessed  difference  be- 
tween a  sufferer  that  mourns  and  a  spirit  that  mur- 
murs. "Call  upon  me  in  the  day  of  trouble." 
'Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh 
in  the  morning." — Thomas  Guthrie. 


LIGHT  AND  DARK. 

God  doth  checker  his  providences  white  and  black, 
as  the  pillar  of  cloud  had  its  light  side  and  dark. 
Look  on  the  light  side  of  thy  estate :  who  looks  on 
the  dark  side  of  a  landscape  ?  Suppose  thou  art 
cast  in  a  lawsuit — there  is  the  dark  side ;  yet  thou 
hast  some  land  left — there  is  the  light  side.  Thou 
hast  sickness  in  thy  body — there  is  the  dark  side ;  but 
grace  in  thy  soul — there  is  the  light  side.  Thou  hast 
a  child  taken  away — there  is  the  dark  side  ;  thy  hus- 
band lives  —  there  is  the  light  side.  God's  provi- 
dences in  this  life  are  various,  represented  by  those 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  123 

speckled  horses  among  the  myrtle-trees  which  were 
red  and  white  (Zechariah  i.,  8) ;  mercies  and  afflic- 
tions are  interwoven ;  God  doth  speckle  his  work. 
"  Oh,"  saith  one,  "I  want  such  a  comfort ;"  but  weigh 
all  thy  mercies  in  a  balance,  and  that  will  make  thee 
content.  Look  on  the  light  side  of  your  condition, 
and  then  all  your  discontent  will  easily  be  dispersed  ; 
do  not  pore  upon  your  losses,  but  ponder  upon  your 
mercies.  What !  wouldst  thou  have  no  cross  at  all  ? 
Why  should  one  man  think  to  have  all  good  things, 
when  he  himself  is  good  but  in  part  ?  Wouldst  thou 
have  no  evil  about  thee  ?  Thou  art  not  fully  sanc- 
tified in  this  life ;  how,  then,  thinkest  thou  to  be  fully 
satisfied  ?  Never  look  for  perfection  of  contentment 
till  there  be  perfection  of  grace. — Richard  Watson. 


LOOK  WITHIN. 
They  that  would  be  loved  must  render  themselves 
lovable.  They  that  would  have  friends  must  show 
themselves  friendly.  Do  you  complain  of  others  ? 
Ask  yourselves  what  you  have  done  to  make  them 
happy.  Do  you  complain  that  the  consolations  of 
God  are  small  with  you  ?  Look  within,  and  inquire 
whether  there  is  not  some  secret  thing  there  which 
ought  not  to  be,  for  "  there  is  no  peace,  saith  my 
God,  to  the  wicked." — Anon. 


124  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


LIGHT  THROUGH  TEARS. 

You  say  that  your  sun  has  gone  done  while  it  is 
yet  day,  and  that  your  path  looks  bleak  and  dreary 
in  the  gathering  twihght.  I  know  it,  my  friend ;  I 
know  that  the  brightness  has  vanished  from  your 
life,  and  that  from  henceforth  you  must  endure  hard- 
ness even  unto  the  end. 

But  take  courage ;  advance  in  perfect  faith.  Mer- 
cies you  do  not  dream  of  now  will  be  strewn  around 
your  footsteps.  Powers  which  till  now  have  lain  as 
sleeping  shadows  within  you  will  awake  to  life ;  pow- 
ers of  faith,  of  hope,  of  love,  and  of  that  perfect  pa- 
tience which  will  enable  you  to  lift  your  streaming 
eyes  to  heaven  and  say,  "  Lord,  I  am  thine ;  do  with 
me  what  thou  wilt ;  strip  me  of  all  earthly  coverings, 
only  save  my  soul  alive."  Then  let  the  shades  of 
evening  fall ;  let  your  path  be  dark  and  desolate ;  but 
in  the  surrounding  stillness  you  will  hear  voices  from 
the  everlasting  hills,  and  the  sound  as  of  the  waving 
of  angels'  wings  around  you.  One  also  mightier 
than  the  angels  will  make  his  presence  felt,  and  as 
you  place  your  trembling  hand  in  his  and  cry, 
"  Lord,  guide  me,  for  I  can  not  see,"  there  will  de- 
scend a  stream  of  light  upon  your  darkening  path, 
and  peace  so  perfect  that  with  songs  of  praise  and 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  125 

of  thanksgiving  you  will  pursue  your  way,  willing 
to  wait,  willing  to  endure,  willing  to  do  all  things 
for  his  dear  sake  who  is  leading  you  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  to  the  fountains  of 
living  waters,  to  the  land  of  everlasting  joy. — Anon. 


HEARING  AND  DOING. 
When  life  is  going  smoothly  on — when  its  sur- 
face is  calm,  its  course  easy  and  prosperous — when 
nothing  further  seems  to  be  called  for  than  a  respect 
for  reliofion  and  religious  observances,  and  that  it 
should  be  made  to  contribute  to  a  Sunday  or  festi- 
val attendance  on  divine  service,  the  want  of  an  in- 
ward and  vital  principle  of  godliness  is  not  so  ap- 
parent. But  in  seasons  of  deep  and  heartfelt  sor- 
row ;  in  the  hour  of  distress  and  bitter  disappoint- 
ment, or  in  the  unguarded  moments  of  turbulent 
passion,  of  resentment,  and  hatred,  at  such  times  a 
RELIGIOUS  principle  is  especially  required  for  guid- 
ance and  restraint ;  yet  how  seldom,  in  such  cases, 
does  a  religious  feeling  supply  the  proper  motive 
for  action — seldom  that,  under  such  circumstances, 
men  are  found  prepared  to  meet  their  trials  as  mem- 
bers of  Christ's  body,  or  as  his  followers  and  disci- 
ples.    Every  one  must  feel  that  it  is  a  real,  not  a 


126  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

nominal  Christian  profession  on  which  they  must 
depend  in  the  time  of  trial,  in  the  hour  of  death,  and 
at  the  day  of  judgment.  The  works  of  faith,  the  la- 
bors of  love,  therefore,  which  belong  to  us  as  mem- 
bers of  Christ,  must  be  carried  on  without  delay, 
from  the  morning  of  life  to  its  close ;  not  reserved 
for  the  languor  of  disease  and  the  infirmities  of  age, 
but  in  the  freshest  years  of  life — the  days  of  its 
health  and  strength,  its  energy  of  mind  and  body. 
Not  in  the  pain  and  weakness  of  a  sick-bed,  or  the 
distraction  of  a  death-bed  scene,  but  in  the  calm 
hours  of  a  composed  spirit  and  a  collected  mind. 
In  faot,  we  must  always  be  ready. — E.  B.  Ramsay. 


AFFLICTION. 

Many  and  precious  are  the  benefits  arising  from 
affliction.  It  tends  to  wean  us  from  this  world  and 
enable  us  rightly  to  appreciate  its  fading  enjoyments. 
When  our  path  is  strewed  w  ith  roses,  when  nothing 
but  brightness  and  fragrance  float  around  us,  how 
apt  we  are  to  be  enamored  with  our  present  condi- 
tion, and  to  forget  the  crown  of  glory  at  the  end  of 
the  Christian  race,  and  to  forget  Jesus,  and  ever- 
lasting ages !  But  affliction,  with  a  warning  voice, 
rouses  us  from  the  sw  eet  delusion,  warns  our  hearts 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  127 

to  "  arise  and  depart"  from  these  inferior  delights, 
because  this  is  "not  our  rest" — true  and  lasting  joys 
are  not  here  to  be  found.  The  sweeping  tempest 
and  the  beating  surge  teach  the  mariner  to  prize  the 
haven,  where  undisturbed  repose  awaits  his  arrival. 
In  like  manner,  disappointments,  vexations,  anxie- 
ties, and  crosses  teach  us  to  long  for  those  happy 
mansions  where  "  all  tears  will  be  wiped  away,  and 
there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor 
crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain,  for  the 
former  things  are  done  away"  (Revelation  xxi.,  40). 
— Anon. 


ABIDE  WITH  US. 

Abide  with  me!     Fast  falls  the  eventide, 
The  darkness  deepens.     Lord,  with  me  abide ! 
"When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  O  bide  with  me ! 

Swift  to  its  close  ebbs  out  life's  little  day; 
Earth's  joys  grow  dim,  its  glories  pass  away  ; 
Change  and  decay  in  all  around  I  see ; 

0  Thou  who  changest  not,  abide  with  me! 

1  need  Thy  presence  every  passing  hour ; 

What  but  Thy  grace  can  foil  the  tempter's  power? 
Who  like  Thyself  my  guide  and  stay  can  be  ? 
On  to  the  close,  O  Lord,  abide  with  me  ! 

Henry  Francis  Lyte. 


128  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


A  PARABLE. 

^^  If  any  be  afflicted,  let  him  pray r 

HiLLEL  walked,  on  a  moonlight  night,  with  his 
disciple  Sadi,  in  the  garden  of  Olivet. 

Sadi  said,  "  See  that  man  there  in  the  light  of  the 
moon  ;  what  is  he  doing  ?" 

Hillel  replied,  "  It  is  Zadoc ;  he  sits  on  the  grave 
of  his  son,  and  weeps." 

"Can  not  Zadoc,  then,"  said  the  youth,  "moderate 
his  mourning  ?  The  people  call  him  the  just  and 
wise." 

"  Shall  he  not  on  that  account  feel  pain  ?"  said 
Hillel. 

"  But,"  said  Sadi,  "  What  advantage,  then,  has  the 
wise  over  the  simple  ?" 

The  teacher  replied,  "  Behold,  the  briny  tear  of 
his  eye  falls  to  the  ground,  but  his  countenance  is 
direct  to  heaven." — F.  W.  Krummacher. 


THE  GOSPEL  NOT  GL003IY. 
The  Gospel  gloomy !     It  is  an  anthem  from  the 
harps  of  heaven ;   the  music  of  the  River  of  Life 
washing  its  shores  on  high,  and  pouring  in  cascades 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  129 

upon  the  earth.  Not  so  cheerful  was  the  song  of 
the  morning  stars,  nor  shout  of  the  sons  of  God  so 
joyful.  Gushing  from  the  fountains  of  eternal  har- 
mony, it  was  first  heard  on  earth  in  a  low  tone  of 
solemn  gladness,  uttered  in  Eden  by  the  Lord  God 
himself  This  gave  the  key-note  of  the  Gospel 
song.  Patriarchs  caught  it  up,  and  taught  it  to  the 
generations  following.  It  breathed  from  the  harp 
of  the  psalmists,  and  rang  hke  a  clarion  from  tower 
and  mountain  top  as  prophets  proclaimed  the  year 
of  jubilee.  Fresh  notes  from  heaven  have  enriched 
the  harmony,  as  the  Lord  of  hosts  and  his  angels 
have  revealed  new  promises,  and  called  on  the  suf- 
fering children  of  Zion  to  be  joyful  in  their  King. 
From  bondage  and  exile,  from  dens  and  caves,  from 
bloody  fields,  and  fiery  stakes,  and  peaceful  death- 
beds have  they  answered  in  tones  which  have 
cheered  the  disconsolate,  and  made  oppressors 
shake  upon  their  thrones  ;  while  sun,  and  moon,  and 
all  the  stars  of  light,  stormy  wind  fulfiUing  his  word, 
the  roaring  sea  and  the  fullness  thereof,  mountains 
and  hills,  fruitful  fields,  and  all  the  trees  of  the  wood, 
have  rejoiced  before  the  Lord,  and  the  coming  of 
his  Anointed,  for  the  redemption  of  his  people,  and 
the  glory  of  his  holy  name. — W.  J.  Hoge. 


130  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  DUE  TIME. 

'■^  Humble  yourselves^  therefore^  tmder  the  mighty  hand  of 
God,  that  he  may  exalt  you  in  due  timer — i  Peter  v.,  6. 

In  due  time — not  thy  fancied  time,  but  his  own 
wisely -appointed  time.  Thou  thinkest,  now  I  am 
sinking ;  if  he  help  not  now,  it  will  be  too  late.  Yet 
he  sees  it  otherwise ;  he  can  let  thee  sink  still  low- 
er, and  yet  bring  thee  up  again.  He  doth  but  stay 
till  the  most  fit  time.  Thou  canst  not  see  it  now, 
but  thou  shalt  see  it,  that  his  chosen  time  is  abso- 
lutely best.  "  God  waiteth  to  be  gracious"  (Isaiah 
XXX.,  18).  Doth  he  wait,  and  wilt  not  thou  ?  Oh, 
the  firm  belief  of  his  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness, 
what  difficulty  will  it  not  surmount  ?  So,  then,  be 
humble  under  his  hand ;  submit  not  only  thy  goods, 
thy  health,  thy  life,  but  thy  soul.  Seek  and  wait  for 
pardon.  Lay  thyself  low  before  him,  and  speak  and 
say,  "  Lord,  I  am  justly  under  the  sentence  of  death  ; 
if  I  fall  under  it,  thou  art  righteous,  and  I  here  ac- 
knowledge it ;  but  there  is  deliverance  in  Christ ; 
thither  I  would  have  recourse."  And  what,  though 
most  or  all  of  our  life  should  pass  without  much 
sensible  taste  even  of  spiritual  comforts,  a  poor  all 
it  is !  Let  us  not  over-esteem  this  moment,  and  so 
think  too  much  of  our  better  or  worse  condition  in 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  131 

it,  either  in  temporals  or  spirituals ;  provided  we  can 
humbly  wait  for  free  grace,  and  depend  on  the  word 
of  promise,  we  are  safe.  It  is  "  but  Weeping  for  a 
night,  and  joy  comes  in  the  morning" — that  clearer 
morning  of  eternity  to  which  no  evening  succeeds. 
— Robert  Leighton. 


WE  GLORY  IN  TRIBULATIONS^  ALSO. 

WiiEX  I  can  read  my  title  clear 

To  mansions  in  the  skies, 
I'll  bid  farewell  to  every  fear, 

And  wipe  my  weeping  eyes. 

Should  earth  against  my  soul  engage, 

And  hellish  darts  be  hurled, 
Then  I  can  smile  at  Satan's  rage. 

And  face  a  frowning  world. 

Let  cares  like  a  wild  deluge  come. 

And  storms  of  sorrow  fall. 
So  I  but  safely  reach  my  home, 

My  God,  my  heaven,  my  All. 

There  shall  I  bathe  my  weary  soul 

In  seas  of  heavenly  rest, 
And  not  a  wave  of  trouble  roll 

Across  my  peaceful  breast. — Isaac  Watts. 


132  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


USES  OF  AFFLICTION. 

What  an  interpreter  of  Scripture  is  affliction ! 
How  many  stars  in  its  heaven  shine  out  brightly  in 
the  night  of  sorrow  and  pain  which  were  unper- 
ceived  or  overlooked  in  the  garish  day  of  our  pros- 
perity !  What  an  enlarger  of  Scripture  is  any  oth- 
er outer  or  inner  event  which  stirs  the  depths  of 
our  hearts,  which  touches  us  near  to  the  core  and 
centre  of  our  lives  ! 

Trouble  of  spirit,  condemnation  of  conscience, 
sudden  danger,  strong  temptation  —  when  any  of 
these  overtake  us,  what  veils  do  they  take  away, 
that  we  may  see  what  hitherto  we  saw  not ;  what 
new  domains  of  God's  Word  do  they  bring  within 
our  spiritual  ken !  How  do  promises,  w  hich  once 
fell  flat  upon  our  ears,  become  precious  now ;  psalms 
become  our  own  ....  which  were  before  aloof 
from  us !  How  do  we  see  things  now  w  ith  the 
eye  which  before  we  knew  only  by  the  hearing  of 
the  car ;  which  before  men  had  told  us,  but  now  we 
ourselves  have  found !  So  that  on  these  accounts 
also  the  Scripture  is  fitted  to  be  our  companion, 
and  to  do  us  good  all  the  years  of  our  life. — Rich- 
ard Chenevix  Trench. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  133 


LOOK  ON  JESUS,  NOT  ON  THE  WAVES. 

But  whcfz  Peter  saw  that  the  wmd  was  boisterotis^  he 
was  afraid ;  and  beginning  to  sink,  he  cried,  saying,  Lord, 
save  me. — Matthew  xiv.,  30. 

"It  was,"  says  the  evangelist, "  when  he  saw  the 
wind  boisterous  that  he  began  to  sink."  He  had, 
therefore,  withdrawn  his  steadfast  gaze  from  his  di- 
vine Master,  and  was  faithlessly  looking  around 
upon  the  dark  clouds,  and  the  still  darker  waters. 
How  does  every  word  of  this  instructive  narrative 
agree  with  the  believer's  experience,  and  come  home 
to  the  believer's  heart !  When  is  it  that  the  Chris- 
tian fails  ?  When  is  it  that  the  Christian  desponds  ? 
When  is  it  that  the  Christian  begins  to  sink  ?  Not 
in  the  hour,  however  great  the  trial  or  afflicting  the 
dispensation,  that  the  eye  of  faith  is  steadfastly  fixed 
upon  his  Savior.  This  is  not  the  hour  when  the 
Christian  sinks.  It  is  when  he  forgets  and  disobeys 
that  most  important  command,  "  Look  unto  me,  and 
be  ye  saved  ;"  when  his  path  is  overcast,  and  trouble 
and  temptation  so  thickly  surround  him  that  his 
thoughts  are  led  to  fasten  themselves  upon  these 
outward  difficulties  or  inward  trials,  and  thus  to  be 
withdrawn  from  the  Fountain  of  strength  and  suc- 
cor.    Christian  friends,  this  is  a  temptation  against 


134  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

which  we  can  not  too  earnestly  or  too  constantly 
be  upon  our  guard,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon and  most  successful  with  which  our  spiritual 
enemy  assails  us.  Let  nothing  induce  you  to  turn 
the  eye  of  faith,  even  for  a  passing  hour,  from  the 
Savior  of  sinners.  While  you  look  to  him,  you  are 
safe ;  danger  begins  the  moment  that  you  cease 
to  do  so.  Once  turn  aside  because  the  cloud  is 
dark  or  the  wind  is  boisterous ;  give  the  reins  to  a 
desponding  imagination ;  follow  out  the  delusive 
reasonings  of  a  deceitful  or  a  doubting  heart,  and 
the  inevitable  effect  will  be  that  every  moment  so 
spent  will  the  more  widely  separate  you  from  him 
who  alone  can  be  your  refuge  and  your  support. 
Your  strength,  your  only  strength,  consists  in  cleav- 
ing daily,  and  hourly,  to  your  Redeemer,  and  draw- 
ing from  his  unsearchable  riches  and  his  inexhaust- 
ible fullness  a  sufficiency  for  all  your  poverty  and 
for  all  your  need. — Henry  Blunt. 


Look  not  mournfully  into  the  past — 
It  comes  not  back  again ; 
Wisely  improve  the  present — it  is  thine. 
Go  forth  to  meet  the  shadowy  future 
Without  fear  and  with  a  manly  heart. 

H.  W.  Lo^^GFELLOW. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  135 


GOD  A  ROCK. 
What  are  the  reasons  for  which  our  God  is  com- 
pared to  a  rock  ?  First,  then,  a  rock  is  steadfast ; 
its  stabihty,  as  contrasted  with  the  flowing  waters 
of  the  sea  or  the  shifting  sands  of  the  desert,  is 
the  first  thing  that  strikes  us ;  and  with  regard  to 
God, 

"  Firm  as  a  rock  Thy  promise  stands ;" 

"With  him  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of 
turning."  Next,  a  rock  is  often  chosen  as  a  site  of 
a  stronghold,  from  the  security  it  gives.  Men  build 
their  castles  upon  a  rock  for  purpose  of  defense. 
The  wise  man  built  his  house  upon  the  rock  for  safe- 
ty in  the  storm :  "  The  Lord  is  my  rock  and  my 
fortress."  Again,  in  Palestine  we  find  that  the  rock 
often  contained  a  cave  or  cleft,  used  as  a  hiding- 
place  :  "  Enter  into  the  rock,  and  hide  thee  in  the 
dust."  In  such  a  cleft  Moses  was  hidden :  "  I  will 
put  thee  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock,  and  will  cover  thee 
with  my  hand  while  I  pass  by"  (Exodus  xxxiii.,  22). 
A  rock  became  also  a  shelter  in  a  common  sense : 
"  The  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land ;" 
"  Lead  me  to  the  rock  that  is  higher  than  I."  And 
the  rock  that  gave  security  was  also  a  source  of 


136  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

refreshment ;  for  "  He  opened  the  rock,  and  the  wa- 
ters gushed  out,"  so  that  "  they  drank  of  that  spir- 
itual rock  that  followed  them,  and  tliat  rock  was 
Christ." — Andrew  Cameron. 


THE  TREMBLING  CHRISTIAN. 

It  is  the  duty  of  good  people  to  labor  after  a  holy 
security  and  serenity  of  mind,  and  to  use  the  means 
appointed  for  the  obtaining  it.  Give  not  way  to  the 
disquieting  suggestions  of  Satan,  and  to  those  tor- 
menting doubts  and  fears  that  arise  in  your  own 
souls.  Study  to  be  quiet ;  chide  yourself  for  your 
distrusts ;  charge  yourselves  to  believe  and  to  hope 
in  God,  that  you  may  yet  praise  him.  You  are  in 
the  dark  concerning  yourselves.  Do  as  Paul's 
mariners  did :  cast  anchor,  and  wish  for  the  day. 

f  Poor,  trembling  Christian !  thou  art  tossed  with 
tempests,  and  not  comforted.  Try  to  lay  thee  down 
in  peace  and  sleep ;  compose  thyself  into  a  sedate 
and  even  frame.  In  the  name  of  him  whom  winds 
and  seas  obey,  command  down  thy  tumultuous 
thoughts,  and  say,  "  Peace,  be  still."  Lay  that  ach- 
ing, trembling  head  of  thine  where  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple laid  his,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  or, 
if  thou  hast  yet  attained  such  boldness  of  access  to 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  137 

him,  lay  that  aching,  trembhng  head  of  thine  at  the 
{^^i  of  the  Lord  Jesus  by  an  entire  submission  to 
him,  saying,  "If  I  perish,  I  will  perish  here."  Put  it 
into  his  hand  by  an  entire  confidence  in  him ;  sub- 
mit it  to  his  disposal  who  knows  how  to  speak  to 
the  heart.  And  if  thou  art  not  yet  entered  into  this 
present  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God, 
yet  look  upon  it  to  be  a  land  of  promise;  and,  there- 
fore, though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it,  for  the  vision  is  for 
an  appointed  time,  and  at  the  end  it  shall  speak,  and 
shall  not  lie.  "Light  is  sown  for  the  righteous,"  and 
what  is  sown  shall  come  up  again  at  last  in  a  har- 
vest of  joy?^ — M.  Henry. 


THE  RIPER  FR  UITS  OF  FAITH. 
The  certainty  that  God  will  work  all  for  good; 
the  seeing  the  dawn  of  morning  from  the  hour  of 
midnight ;  the  being  able  to  detect  the  folds  of  the 
wing  under  the  black  shell  of  the  chrysalis ;  the  see- 
ing no  single  probable  doorway  to  escape  the  diffi- 
culty, and  yet  to  make  no  effort,  but  to  feel  sure  that 
God  will  extricate  ;  to  see  Isaac  bound  on  the  altar, 
and  yet  to  believe  that  from  him  will  spring  a  multi- 
tude— are  signs  of  a  living  faith  which  few  possess, 

while  the  reward  is  boundless  perfect  peace. — Anon. 

K 


138  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  BIBLE  IS  A  HISTORY  OF  COMPENSATION. 

The  prophecies  of  the  new  covenant  were  utter- 
ed in  seasons  of  depression — at  the  fall  of  Adam, 
the  separation  of  Abraham,  the  bondage  of  Israel, 
the  giving  of  the  law  by  Moses,  and  the  captivity 
of  Babylon.  Cloud  and  rainbow  appear  together. 
There  is  wisdom  in  the  saying  of  Feltham,  that  the 
whole  creation  is  kept  in  order  by  discord,  and  that 
vicissitude  maintains  the  world.  Many  evils  bring 
many  blessings.  Manna  drops  in  the  wilderness ; 
corn  grows  in  Canaan.  Rarely  two  afflictions  or 
two  trials  console  or  trouble  us  at  the  same  time. 
Human  life  is  the  prophet's  declaration  drawn  out 
into  examples.  "  God  stayeth  his  rough  wind  in 
the  day  of  his  east  wind." 

And  one  curious  and  beautiful  feature  of  the  di- 
vine scheme  of  compensation  is  seen  in  its  chang- 
ing our  sorrows  into  instruments  and  channels  of 
joy  and  comfort.  The  curtained  chamber  of  sick- 
ness sows  the  barren  field  with  flowers.  A  sick 
man  seated  in  his  garden,  or  tottering  down  a  green 
lane  for  a  few  minutes,  might  suppose  himself  trans- 
ported into  the  morning  and  sunlight  of  creation: 

The  common  air,  the  earth,  the  skies, 
To  him  are  opening  Paradise. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  130 

Plato  relates  that  Socrates,  on  the  day  of  his 
death,  being  in  the  company  of  his  disciples,  began 
to  rub  his  leg,  which  had  been  galled  by  the  chain, 
and  mentioned  the  pleasurable  sensation  in  the  re- 
leased member.  The  Greek  prison  represents  the 
world ;  the  philosopher,  the  Christian ;  the  fetters, 
the  calamities  of  hfe.  When  one  of  these  is  loos- 
ened, the  soul  experiences  a  feeling  of  delight.  It 
is  the  leg  of  Socrates  unchained.  The  iron  enters 
into  the  soul,  and  afterward  the  wound  is  healed. 
St.  Paul  told  the  Corinthians  that  when  he  came 
to  Macedonia  his  flesh  had  no  rest;  without  were 
fighting,  within  were  fears ;  but  God  comforted  him 
by  "  the  coming  of  Titus."     So  it  is  ever. 

The  future  of  a  man  is  his  recompense.  Some- 
thing is  promised  which  he  desired,  or  something  is 
withdrawn  of  which  he  complained.  Hope  is  the 
compendium  of  compensation.  The  Esquimau,  who 
numbers  among  his  pleasures  a  plank  of  a  tree  cast 
by  the  ocean  currents  on  his  desolate  shores,  sees 
in  the  moon  plains  overshadowed  by  majestic  for- 
ests ;  the  Indian  of  the  Orinoko  expects  to  find  in 
the  same  luminary  green  and  boundless  savannas, 
where  people  are  never  stung  by  musquitoes.  Thus 
the  chain  of  compensation  encircles  the  world. — R. 

A.  WiLLMOTT. 


140  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  OLD  MANS  BIBLE. 

My  Bible  own,  my  Bible  old, 

Give  back  my  faithful  friend ; 
I've  read  it  oft,  I've  read  it  Ions:, 

I'll  keep  it  to  the  end. 

You  call  it  spoiled,  and  worthless  deem, 

Because  it  is  so  old ; 
But  this  to  me  doth  make  it  dear, 

Beyond  all  gems  and  gold. 

This  is  the  page  o'er  which  I  wept 

When  first  my  sins  I  knew. 
And  here's  the  promise  and  the  fount 

Whence  all  my  hopes  I  drew. 

'Twas  here  were  writ  our  household  names, 

My  children's  natal  day  ; 
And  here  is  marked  the  doleful  time 

When  death  took  them  away. 

'Tis  not  in  gilt  and  purple  dress 

The  volume's  price  is  known ; 
The  heart  and  mem'ry  have  a  wealth 

In  what  Ave  call  ouk  owisr. 

My  head  is  gray,  my  eye  is  dim, 

I  can  not  court  the  new ; 
Give  back  the  old,  the  worn,  the  tried, 

The  wonted  and  the  true. — Williaji  Adams. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  141 


SUBMITTING  TO  WIIAT.^ 

The  late  Ephraim  Peabody,  about  twenty  years 
ago,  was  attacked  with  bleeding  at  the  lungs,  and 
was  obliged  to  resign  his  pastoral  duties  at  Cincin- 
nati. His  only  child  was  laid  in  a  New  England 
grave ;  his  young  wife  had  temporarily  lost  the  use 
of  her  eyes ;  his  home  was  broken  up,  and  his  pros- 
pects were  very  dark.  They  had  sold  their  furni- 
ture, and  went  to  board  in  a  country  tavern  in  the 
town  of  Dayton. 

One  day,  as  he  came  in  from  a  walk,  his  wife  said 
to  him,  "  I  have  been  thinking  of  our  situation  here, 
and  have  determined  to  be  submissive  and  patient." 

"  Ah  !"  said  he,  ''  that  is  a  good  resolution  ;  let  us 
see  what  we  have  to  submit  to.  I  will  make  a  list 
of  our  trials.  First,  we  have  a  home — we  will  sub- 
mit to  that ;  second,  we  have  the  comforts  of  life 
— we  will  submit  to  that ;  third,  we  have  each  oth- 
er ;  fourth,  we  have  a  multitude  of  friends ;  fifth,  we 
have  a  God  to  take  care  of  us." 

''  Ah !"  said  she,  "  I  pray  stop,  and  I  will  say  no 
more  about  submission." 


Crosses  are  ladders  to  heaven. 


142  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


KEEP  THE  HEART  ALIVE. 
The  longer  I  live,  the  more  expedient  I  find  it  to 
endeavor  more  and  more  to  extend  my  sympathies 
and  affections.  The  natural  tendency  of  advancing 
years  is  to  narrow  and  contract  these  feelings.  I 
do  not  mean  that  I  wish  to  form  a  new  and  sworn 
friendship  every  day,  to  increase  my  circle  of  inti- 
mates ;  these  are  very  different  affairs.  But  I  find 
it  conduces  to  my  mental  health  and  happiness  to 
find  out  all  I  can  which  is  amiable  and  lovable  in 
those  I  come  in  contact  with,  and  to  make  the  most 
of  it.  It  may  fall  very  far  short  of  what  I  was  once 
wont  to  dream  of;  it  may  not  supply  the  place  of 
what  I  have  known,  felt,  and  tasted,  but  it  is  better 
than  nothing.  It  seems  to  keep  the  feelings  and 
affections  in  exercise  ;  it  keeps  the  heart  alive  in  its 
humanity ;  and,  till  we  shall  be  all  spiritual,  this  is 
alike  our  duty  and  our  interest. — Bernard  Barton. 


Fullness  to  such  a  burden  is, 

That  go  on  pilgrimage; 
Here  little,  and  hereafter  bliss, 

Is  best  from  age  to  age. 

John  Bunyan. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  143 


BEST  AS  IT  IS. 
''If  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not 
diedr  These  little  words  plainly  showed  that  these 
afflicted  sisters  both  beheved  that,  had  they  been 
permitted  to  order  the  course  of  events,  the  result 
would  have  been  far  happier.  If  something  had 
happened  which  has  not  happened,  the  event  might 
have  been  less  wretched.  Oh  how  often  do  reflec- 
tions similar  to  this  barb  the  arrow  of  affliction  with 
a  poignancy  which  nothing  else  can  give !  These 
are  the  thoughts  which  in  our  wretchedness  make  us 
doubly  wretched :  "  If  we  had  taken  such  a  course, 
if  we  had  acted  in  some  other  manner,  how  differ- 
ent would  have  been  the  issue!"  There  can  be 
nothing  more  unwise,  perhaps  few  things  more  un- 
holy, than  reasoning  thus.  In  dwelling  upon  sec- 
ondary causes,  we  overlook  the  first  great  cause  of 
all  —  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  alone  or- 
dereth  all  things,  and  doeth  all  things  well.  Has 
the  Lord  no  share  in  the  decision?  Did  he  not 
direct  our  present  disappointment  ?  Was  he  not 
present  when  our  friend  was  taken  from  us  ?  Du- 
ties are  ours,  events  are  God's. — Henry  Blunt. 


144  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


LIFE'S  CHANGES. 
Our  life  is  hastening  along.  One  scene  presents 
itself,  and  then  vanishes ;  a  second  follows,  and  dis- 
appears in  like  manner.  Now  we  are  well;  anon 
sickness  seizes  us.  At  this  moment  every  thing  is 
prosperous  and  comfortable  ;  the  next  all  is  dark  and 
miserable.  From  reflecting  upon  these  changes, 
however,  Vv^e  may  learn  two  important  lessons — the 
one  solemn,  the  other  encouraging.  It  is  a  solemn 
consideration  that,  amidst  all  the  fluctuations  of  life, 
we  are  still  making  rapid  advances  toward  eternity. 
Every  wave,  whether  placid  or  turbulent,  wafts  us 
nearer  to  that  awful  shore.  Like  a  ship  which  con- 
tinues to  make  its  way,  whatever  the  passengers  on 
board  may  be  doing,  we  are  perpetually  hurried  for- 
ward, whatever  may  be  our  employments.  But  as 
this  is  a  solemn  thought,  so  is  it  encouraging  to  con- 
trast the  uncertainty  of  all  things  here  below  with 
the  unchangeableness  of  our  gracious  and  Almighty 
Lord.  This  is  our  safety,  that  there  is  one  who 
hath  said,  "  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also ;"  and 
that  there  is  an  unfailing  fountain  of  love  and  mercy 
in  him  to  remedy  all  the  evils  of  time,  and  crown  us 
with  every  blessing.  —  Life  of  Bishop  Wilson,  of 
Calcutta. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  145 


DEPENDENCE  UPON  GOD. 
"  Casting  all  your  care  upon  him,  for  he  careth 
for  you."  ....  What  a  calm,  what  a  peace  in  the 
midst  of  a  storm  does  this  gracious  habit  of  godly 
dependence  give  to  a  man!  Suppose  to-morrow 
that  you  were  expecting  something  very  important 
to  take  place,  and  a  heavy  burden  of  care  is  the 
natural  consequence  of  so  grave  an  expectation. 
You  are  calm  and  composed,  your  mind  is  at  peace. 
You  have  done  your  best  to  meet  the  emergency, 
and,  as  a  Christian,  as  a  man  of  God,  you  cast  all 
your  care  on  him,  knowing  assuredly  that  he  careth 
for  you. 

And  there  is  really  a  to-morrow  of  importance  to 
every  one  of  us.  We  shall  have  to  unloose  the 
bands  of  mortality.  We  shall  have  to  take  off  our 
outer  garments,  and,  bidding  good-night  to  all  about 
our  strange  and  narrow  bed,  we  shall  have  to  he 
down  for  the  last  time  on  earth,  and  let  death  put  out 
our  light.  Oh !  what  a  happy  thing  it  will  be  for 
faith,  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  to  sound  in  our  ear 
for  the  last  time,  "  Casting  all  your  care  upon  him ;" 
and  for  us  to  reply,  "  Yes  !  yes  !  he  careth  for  us  !" 
and  then  to  fall  asleep. — J.  Hullett. 


146  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


SANCTIFICATION  A  WOBK  OF  TIME. 
My  daughter,  do  not  imagine  that  the  work  of 
sanctification  will  be  an  easy  one.  Cherry-trees 
boar  fruit  soon  after  they  are  planted,  but  that  fruit 
is  small  and  perishable ;  while  the  palm,  the  prince 
of  trees,  requires  a  hundred  years  before  it  is  ma- 
ture enough  to  bring  forth  dates.  A  lukewarm  de- 
gree of  piety  may  be  acquired  in  a  year,  but  the 
perfection  to  which  we  aspire,  oh  my  dear  daugh- 
ter, must  be  the  growth  of  long  and  weary  years. — 
Jacqueline  Pascal. 


MEMORIES  OF  THE  WA  T. 
"  Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  led  thee."  All  the  way  — 
it  is  necessary  that  all  the  way  should  be  remem- 
bered— the  hill  of  difficulty  as  well  as  the  valley  of 
humiliation  ;  the  time  of  prosperity  as  well  as  the 
time  of  pain.  Necessary  for  our  advantage  that 
we  may  understand  our  position,  learn  the  lessons 
of  providence  and  grace ;  necessary  that  we  may 
construct  a  narrative,  for  every  event  in  our  history 
is   connected  and  mutually  interpreted ;   necessary 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  147 

that  we  may  trace  the  outworkings  of  Jehovah's 
plan  in  the  successive  achievements  of  our  hves. 
And  if  by  the  memory  of  joy  you  are  impressed 
with  God's  beneficence,  kept  in  cheerful  piety,  and 
saved  from  the  foul  sin  of  repining ;  and  if  by  the 
memory  of  sorrow  you  are  moulded  into  a  gentler 
type,  taught  a  softer  sympathy,  and  receive  a  heav- 
enward impulse,  and  anticipate  a  blessed  reunion ; 
if  by  the  memory  of  sin  you  are  reminded  of  your 
frailty  and  rebuked  of  your  pride,  stimulated  to  re- 
pentance and  urged  to  trust  in  God,  then  it  will  be 
no  irksomeness,  but  a  heaven-sent  and  precious 
blessing  that  you  have  thus  remembered  the  way 
that  the  Lord  hath  led  thee  in  the  wilderness. — 
William  M.  Punsiion. 


MEMORIAL  OF  GRATITUDE. 
A  VERY  poor  and  aged  man,  busied  in  planting 
and  grafting  an  apple-tree,  was  rudely  interrupted 
by  this  interrogation :  "  Why  do  you  plant  trees, 
who  can  not  hope  to  eat  the  fruit  of  them  ?"  He 
raised  himself  up,  and,  leaning  upon  his  spade,  re- 
plied, "  Some  one  planted  trees  for  me  before  I  was 
born,  and  I  have  eaten  the  fruit.  I  now  plant  for 
others,  that  the  memorial  of  my  gratitude  may  exist 
when  I  am  dead  and  ^one." — Anon. 


lis  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 


''NOT  3IY  WILL,  BUT  THINE:' 

TiiY  way,  not  mine,  O  Lord, 
However  dark  it  be ! 

Lead  me  by  Thine  own  liand, 
Choose  out  the  path  for  me. 

Smooth  let  it  be  or  rough. 
It  will  be  still  the  best ; 

Winding  or  straight,  it  leads 
Right  onward  to  Thy  rest. 

I  dare  not  choose  my  lot ; 

I  would  not  if  I  might ; 
Choose  Thou  for  me,  my  God ; 

So  shall  I  walk  aright. 

The  kingdom  that  I  seek 
Is  Thine ;  so  let  the  way 

That  leads  to  it  be  Thine, 
Else  I  must  surely  stray. 


Take  Thou  my  cup,  and  it 
With  joy  or  sorrow  fill. 

As  best  to  Thee  may  seem ; 
Choose  Thou  my  good  and  ill ; 

Choose  Thou  for  me  my  friends, 
My  sickness  or  my  health ; 

Choose  Thou  my  cares  for  me, 
My  poverty  or  wealth. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  149 

Not  mine,  not  mine  the  choice, 

In  tilings  or  great  or  small ; 
Be  Thou  my  Guide,  my  Strength, 

My  Wisdom,  and  my  All. 

HORATIUS  B0i!^Arw 


LEAD,  KINDL  Y  LIGHT. 
Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  th'  encircling  gloom, 

Lead  Thou  me  on ; 
The  nio-ht  is  dark,  and  I  am  far  from  home ; 

Lead  Thou  me  on ; 
Keep  Thou  my  feet ;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene— one  step  enough  for  me. 

I  was  not  ever  thus,  nor  j^rayed  that  Thou 

Shouldst  lead  me  on ; 
I  loved  to  choose  and  see  my  path ;  but  now 

Lead  Thou  me  on. 
I  loved  the  garish  day,  and,  spite  of  fears, 
Pride  ruled  my  Avill.     Eemember  not  past  years. 

So  long  Thy  power  has  bless'd  me,  sure  it  still 

Will  lead  me  on 
O'er  moor  and  fen,  o'er  crag  and  torrent,  till 

The  night  is  gone, 
And  with  the  moon  those  anojel  faces  smile 
Which  I  have  loved  long  since,  and  lost  a  while. 

John  Henry  Newman. 


150  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  VISION  OF  GOD  AND  A  KNOWLEDGE  OF 
IIEAVENL  Y  3IYSTERIES. 

One  tJnng  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek 
after;  that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the 
days  of  my  life,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  in- 
quire in  his  tetnple. — Psalm  xxvii.,  4. 

Dost  thou  ask  what  he  desires  ?  Peradventure 
it  is  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  in  a  carnal 
sense,  although  this  is  to  be  spiritually  sought  after 
and  desired  ;  or,  peradventure,  the  subjugation  of  his 
enemies,  or  the  death  of  his  personal  foes,  or  the 
power  and  wealth  of  this  world.  For  he  is  on  fire 
with  love ;  much  he  sigheth,  and  gloweth,  and  pant- 
eth.  Let  us  see  what  he  desires  :  "  One  thino-  have 
I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after."  What 
is  it  he  doth  seek  after  ?  "  That  I  may  dwell,"  saith 
he,  "  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my 
life."  And  suppose  thou  dost  dwell  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  what  will  be  the  source  of  thy  joy  there? 
"  That  I  may  behold,"  saith  he,  "  the  fair  beauty  of 
the  Lord." 

My  brethren,  why  is  it  that  you  cry  out,  why  is  it 
that  you  exult,  why  is  it  that  you  love,  but  because 
the  spark  of  this  affection  is  there  ?  What  long 
you  for,  I  pray  you  ?  Can  it  be  seen  with  the  eyes  ? 
Can  it  be  touched  ?     Is  it  some  beauty  which  de- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.        '        151 

lights  the  eyes  ?  Were  not  the  martyrs  ardently 
loved  ?  and  when  we  commemorate  them,  do  not 
we  burn  with  love  ?  What  love  we  in  them,  breth- 
ren ?  Their  limbs  torn  by  wild  beasts  ?  What 
more  loathsome  if  you  ask  the  eyes  of  the  flesh ! 
What  more  beautiful  if  thou  ask  the  eyes  of  the 
heart !  What  would  be  thy  feelings  at  the  sight  of 
some  beautiful  youth  who  was  a  thief?  How  would 
thine  eyes  be  shocked  ?  Would  the  eyes  of  the 
flesh  be  shocked  ?  If  thou  ask  them,  nothing  more 
exquisitely  adjusted,  more  gracefully  proportioned 
than  that  person.  The  symmetry  of  the  limbs,  and 
the  comeliness  of  the  complexion,  allure  the  eyes ; 
yet  when  thou  hearest  that  he  is  a  thief,  thy  mind 
revolts  from  him.  On  the  other  hand,  thou  seest  an 
old  man,  bent  double,  staying  himself  upon  a  staffs 
moving  himself  with  extreme  difficulty,  furrowed  all 
over  with  wrinkles  ;  what  seest  thou  to  delight  thine 
eyes  ?  Thou  art  told  that  he  is  a  righteous  man : 
thou  lovest  him ;  thou  embracest  him. 

Such  are  the  rewards  promised  to  us,  my  breth- 
ren. Let  such  be  the  object  of  your  affections  ; 
such  the  kingdom  for  which  you  sigh ;  such  the 
country  for  which  you  long,  if  you  would  attain  to 
that  with  which  our  Lord  did  come  —  that  is,  to 
grace  and  truth.  But  if  they  be  bodily  rewards 
which  thou  hast  coveted  at  God's  hand,  thou  art  still 


152  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

under  the  law,  and  the  law,  for  that  very  reason, 
thou  wilt  not  fulfill.    For  when  thou  perceivest  those 
temporal  things  poured  forth  in  abundance   upon 
men  who  offend  God,  thy  footsteps  falter,  and  thou 
sayest  to  thyself^  "Behold,  I  worship  God;   every 
day  I  run  to  church  ;  my  knees  are  worn  with  pray- 
ers, and  yet  I  am  always  sick.     Men  commit  mur- 
ders, they  are  guilty  of  extortion,  they  overflow  and 
abound,  every  thing  goes  on  well  with  them."    Were, 
then,  such  as  these  the  things  thou  didst  seek  at 
God's  hand  ?     Certain  it  is  thou  didst  belong  to 
grace.     If  the  grace   God  gave  thee  is  grace  be- 
cause gratuitous,  because  he  freely  gave,  then  do 
thou  freely  love.     Do  not  love  God  for  a  reward ; 
let  himself  be  thy  reward.     Let  thy  soul  say,  "  One 
thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek 
after  ;  that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all 
the  days  of  my  life,  that  I  may  behold  the  fair  beau- 
ty of  the  Lord."     Fear  not  to  be  cloyed  and  sur- 
feited.    Such  will  be  that  beauty  that  it  will  be  al- 
ways present  with  thee,  and  yet  thou  wilt  never  be 
satiated  ;  or,  rather,  thou  wilt  be  always  satiated  and 
never  satiated.     For  if  I  should  say  thou  wilt  not  be 
satiated,  this  would  imply  hunger ;  and  if  thou  wilt 
be  satiated,  I  am  afraid  lest  I  convey  the  idea  of 
surfeit.     Where  there  shall  be  neither  surfeit  nor 
yet  hunger,  I  know  not  what  word  to  use.    But  God 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  153 

hath  it  to  make  good  to  those  who  find  no  word 
wherewith  to  express  it,  yet  beUeve  that  they  shall 
receive  it. — Augustine. 


HEAVEN  OUR  HOME. 

A  MAN  should  be  bound  for  home,  as  it  were,  as 

you  see  all  creatures  be.     Let  a  stone  be  removed 

from  home,  from  the  centre,  let  it  be  put  out  of  its 

place,  it  will  never  be  quiet  till  it  be  put  home  again. 

Let  a  bird  be  far  from  the  nest  and  it  grows  toward 

night,  she  will  home  even  upon  the  wings  of  the 

wind.     Let  every  poor  beast  and  every  creature, 

though  the  entertainment  be  but  slender  at  home, 

yet  if  you  let  it  slip  loose,  it  will  home  as  fast  as  it 

can.     Every  thing  tends  to  its  place ;  there  is  its 

safety,  there  is  its  rest,  there  it  is  preserved,  there  it 

is  quiet.     Now,  since  it  is  so  with  every  creature, 

why  should  it  not  be  so  with  us  ?     Why  should  we 

not  be  for  our  home  ?     This,  my  brethren,  is  not 

our  home  ;  here  is  not  our  rest.     There  is  our  home 

where  our  chief  friends  be,  where  our  Father  God 

is,  where  our  husband  Christ  is,  where  our  chief 

kindred  and  acquaintance  be,  all  the  prophets,  and 

apostles,  and  martyrs  of  God  departed  are  —  that 

is  our  home,  and  thither  should  we  go. — Richard 

SiBBES. 

L 


154:  LIGET  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  AB  UNDANT  ENTRANCE. 

For  so  an  entrance  shall  be  ministered  unto  you  abund- 
antly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesics  Christ. — 2  Peter  i.,  11. 

It  is  because  God  made  the  entrance  into  the  ev- 
erlasting kingdom  that  it  is  so  broad  and  free.  If 
man  had  made  it,  it  would  have  been  not  only  nar- 
row and  difficult,  but  a  failure  outright.  And,  in- 
deed, man  has  attempted  to  make  these  human  gate- 
ways into  the  everlasting  kingdom,  and  he  has  per- 
suaded himself  that  they  are  very  fair  and  success- 
ful, and  all  sorts  of  complex  rules  have  been  laid 
down  to  secure  the  passage  through,  but  no  man 
ever  yet  found  his  way  into  the  everlasting  king- 
dom of  Jesus  over  these  legal  thresholds.  God's 
way  i^free  salvation  to  all  who  will  take  it  by  trust- 
ing his  Son.  The  Gospel  is  thus  marvelously  sim- 
ple— so  simple  that  thousands  overlook  it.  There 
is  no  crook  or  corner  in  it;  the  smallest  child  can 
comprehend  it  as  well  as  the  loftiest  philosopher. 
It  is  just  this,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus."  There 
is  no  one  atom  more  needed — this  is  the  whole  Gos- 
pel. Man  may  learn  many  interesting  and  profit- 
able particulars  besides,  but  this  is  the  saving  truth ; 
this  makes  the  saint ;  this  secures  peace  and  joy 
eternal. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  155 

Now  it  is  because  of  this  divine  simplicity  of  sal- 
vation that  the  apostle  can  use  the  word  "  abund- 
antly" in  the  text  —  "an  entrance  ministered  unto 
you  abundantly. "  We  see  the  same  word  in  the 
epistle  to  Titus  (iii.,  5,  6),  "  The  Holy  Spirit  which 
he  shed  on  us  ahundantly  through  Jesus  Christ. ' 
It  is  elsewhere  translated  "  richly,"  and  refers  to  the 
profusion  of  the  supply.  There  is  enough  and  to 
spare.  No  demand  upon  us  need  find  us  straitened. 
If  sin  rises  up  and  says,  "I'm  the  monster  that  shall 
destroy  you,"  we  reply,  "  Christ  has  robbed  you  of 
your  fangs,  and  we  defy  you."  If  Satan  suggest  his 
doubts,  we  can  refer  him  to  the  Master,  who  has 
undertaken  to  transact  all  our  business  with  Satan. 
Past  remissness,  present  care,  infirmity,  trial  —  we 
can  make  one  bundle  of  them  all,  and  commit  them 
to  the  arm  that  is  ready  to  receive  all  our  burden. 
It  is  an  abundant  entrance,  and  so  any  dwelhng 
upon  any  extreme  unworthiness,  although  all  very 
true,  is  quite  away  from  the  point.  God  knew  that 
unworthiness  before  I  did,  and  knows  it  now  far 
better  than  I  do,  and  he  made  the  entrance  abund- 
ant so  as  to  let  in  the  full  breadth  of  my  unworthi- 
ness. It  is  utterly  vain  for  me  to  hunt  up  an  objec- 
tion when  God  has  provided  against  every  objec- 
tion for  my  soul.  When  it  is  grace,  and  that  grace 
infinite,  that  has  made  the  provision,  how  foolish  it 


156  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

is  to  be  objecting  any  personal  deficiency,  and  sug- 
gesting any  doubts  and  difficulties  on  that  score ! 
An  acceptance  of  the  grace  utterly  annihilates  all  the 
objections,  and  leaves  the  doubts  nothing  to  stand 
on.  Now,  although  God  has  made  this  entrance 
into  his  kingdom  so  gloriously  broad  that  not  a  sin- 
ner need  talk  of  inability,  nor  a  saint  fret  himself 
into  melancholy,  yet  we  find  sinners  all  over  say- 
ing, "  I  can't,"  and  saints  all  over  making  themselves 
very  uncomfortable.  In  regard  to  the  sinners  who 
say  "  I  can't,"  let  me  simply  say  you'd  come  nearer 
the  truth  if  you  say  "I  won't."  You  can't  read  the 
Bible  and  say  "I  can't."  "Whosoever  will,  let  him 
come  and  take  the  water  of  life  freely, "  doesn't  sound 
very  suggestive  of  inability.  But  the  text  is  not 
addressed  to  sinners,  but  to  saints,  and  to  God's  peo- 
ple I  now  commend  it.  I  speak  to  the  melancholy 
ones  who  have  made  God's  abundant  entrance  so 
narrow  that  it  is  always  pinching  them.  The  text 
says, "  So  the  entrance  shall  be  ministered  (or  fur- 
nished) unto  you  abundantly."  What  does  that  "  so" 
refer  to  ?  To  the  acquisition  and  growth  of  the 
seven  graces  in  addition  to  faith,  to  wit,  virtue, 
knowledge,  temperance,  patience,  godliness,  brother- 
ly kindness,  and  charity.  In  other  words,  growth 
in  the  elements  of  the  Christian  life  will  widen  the 
entrance  to  us   individually,  making  us  more   and 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  157 

more  aware  of  the  exceeding  fullness  of  our  salva- 
tion. The  use  of  the  same  verb  (and  an  uncom- 
mon one)  in  the  Greek  is  striking,  "  Giving  all  dili- 
gence,/ifrn?*/*  with  your  faith  virtue,"  etc "for 

so  an  entrance  shall  he  furnished  yon  abundantly." 
If  you'll  diligently  add  to  your  graces,  God  will  add 
to  your  peace  and  joy.  Here,  then,  we  have  reach- 
ed the  great  lesson  of  the  text.  May  the  Holy  Spir- 
it write  it  deeply  on  our  hearts ! — Howard  Crosby. 


DEATH  WELC03IE. 
Death  comes  at  Christ's  command  to  call  the  be- 
liever to  himself;  and,  grim  and  ghastly  though  be 
the  look  of  the  messenger,  surely  that  may  well  be 
welcome  in  the  sweetness  of  the  message  he  brings. 
Death  comes  to  set  the  spirit  free  ;  and,  rude  though 
be  the  hand  that  knocks  off  the  fetters,  and  painful 
though  be  the  process  of  liberation,  what  need  the 
prisoner  care  for  that  when  it  is  to  freedom,  life, 
and  honor  he  is  about  to  be  emancipated  ?  Death 
strikes  the  hour  of  the  soul's  everlasting  espous- 
als;  and,  though  the  sound  may  be  harsh,  what 
matters  that?  To  common  ears  it  may  seem  a 
death-knell ;  to  the  ear  of  faith  it  is  a  bridal  peal. — 
John  Cairo. 


158  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  ROD. 
Visiting  a  friend  one  clay,  Gotthold  found  him 
seated  with  his  family  at  table,  and  observed  that 
the  children  all  received  a  due  portion  of  food,  and 
were  required  to  eat  it  in  a  quiet  and  orderly  way ; 
but  that  beside  the  father's  plate  there  was  also  ly- 
ing upon  the  table  a  rod,  to  warn  them  against  im- 
proprieties of  conduct  and  manners.  He  thereupon 
observed  to  his  friend :  "You  treat  your  children  as 
our  heavenly  Father  treats  his.  He,  too,  prepares 
a  table  before  them,  and  gives  them  all  sorts  of  good 
things,  spiritual  and  temporal,  to  enjoy,  and  yet  the 
rod,  which  is  another  name  for  the  cross,  must  hke- 
wise  be  at  hand,  that  we  may  not  become  froward, 
but  walk  in  holy  fear  and  filial  obedience.  Of  this 
truth  God  has  given  us  almost  a  similar  emblem  in 
the  sacred  Scriptures ;  for  the  ark  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment contained  not  only  the  golden  pot  with  the 
manna,  but  also  Aaron's  rod,  which  blossomed,  to 
intimate  the  authority  he  exercises  over  his  family, 
and  teach  us  that,  although  he  feeds  the  members 
with  the  hidden  manna  of  his  sweet  grace,  he  also 
purposes  to  use  the  rod  if  he  shall  see  cause,  and  to 
do  both  the  one  and  the  other  for  our  welfare  and 
salvation.     The  same  hand  prepares  the  table  and 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  159 

wields  the  rod.  From  one  and  the  same  heart  flow 
both  comfort  and  cross.  God  continues  our  loving 
and  gracious  Father  when  he  chastens  and  cor- 
rects no  less  than  when  he  refreshes  and  comforts 
us.  A  good  man  once  pertinently  said  that  it  was 
a  doubtful  matter  whether  bread  or  chastisement 
was  best  for  children,  because,  while  bread  was  nec- 
essary for  them  to  live,  chastisement  was  necessary 
for  their  living  well.  Even  so  must  we,  too,  confess 
that  the  dear  cross  is  as  needful  to  us  as  life  itself] 
and  far  more  needful  and  salutary  than  all  the  bless- 
ings and  honors  of  the  world.  In  heaven,  the  glori- 
fied spirits,  who  now  fully  understand  its  mystery, 
and  enjoy  in  the  everlasting  rest  the  sweet  fruit 
which  grows  upon  the  thorny  brier,  will  thank  the 
all-wise  and  gracious  God  especially  for  his  holy 
cross  and  fatherly  correction,  without  which  they 
would  never  have  reached  the  seat  of  bliss  and  glory. 
Let  us  also  learn  this  lesson,  and  say  from  the  heart, 
'  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted,  that  I 
might  learn  thy  statutes.'  Whether  we  like  it  or 
not,  the  Lord  our  God  will  not  change  his  ways. 
Whosoever  wishes  to  be  a  child  must  take  bread 
and  sorrow  together  from  his  hand.  No  guest  at 
his  table  need  think  it  strange  to  see  the  rod  upon 
it,  and  be  obliged  to  eat  his  heavenly  Father's  bread 
moistened  with  tears.     Here  in  this  world  it  can 


160  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

not  be  otherwise ;  but  when  we  shall  one  day  sit  at 
his  table  in  heaven,  every  rod  shall  be  cast  into  the 
fire.  Oh,  my  Father !  I  am  becoming  accustomed 
by  degrees  to  thy  ways,  and  have  no  objection  to 
the  rules  of  thy  domestic  government.  Daily  do  I 
strive  to  learn  not  only  to  relish  the  bread,  but  also 
to  kiss  the  rod." — Christian  Scriver. 


LOVE  OF  GOD. 
History's  noblest  deed  and  record  of  love  is  in 
the  self-devotion  of  one  generous  heathen,  Pylades, 
who  forfeited  his  life  to  save  his  friend.  But  "  God 
commendeth  his  love  to  us  in  that,  while  we  were 
yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  "You  have  not 
yet  seen,"  says  a  great  writer  and  profound  thinker, 
"  the  greatest  gift  of  all — the  heart  of  God,  the  love 
of  his  heart,  the  heart  of  his  love.  And  will  he,  in 
very  deed,  show  us  that  ?  Yes  ;  unveil  that  cross 
and  see.  It  was  his  only  mode  of  showing  us  his 
heart.  It  is  infinite  love  laboring  to  reveal  itself, 
agonizing  to  utter  the  fullness  of  infinite  love  ;  apart 
from  that  act,  a  boundless  ocean  of  love  concealed 
in  the  heart  of  God.  But  now  it  has  found  an 
ocean  channel.  Beyond  this  he  can  not  go.  Once 
and  forever  the  proof  has  been  given  —  'God  is 
love.'  " — J.  R.  Macduff. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  161 


«  REST  ONL  Y  IN  G  ODr 

My  spirit  longetli  for  Thee, 
Within  my  troubled  breasf> 

Although  I  be  unworthy 
Of  so  divine  a  Guest. 

Of  so  divine  a  Guest 

Unworthy  though  I  be, 
Yet  has  my  heart  no  rest 

Unless  it  come  from  Thee. 

Unless  it  come  from  Thee, 
In  vain  I  look  around  ; 
In  all  that  I  can  see 

No  rest  is  to  be  found. 

No  rest  is  to  be  found 

But  in  Thy  blessed  love  ; 
Oh  let  my  wish  be  crowned, 

And  send  it  from  above  ! 

John  Bykom. 


In  pain,  sickness,  trouble,  methinks  I  hear  God 
say,  "Take  this  medicine,  exactly  suited  to  the 
case,  prepared  and  weighed  by  my  own  hand,  and 
consisting  of  the  choicest  drugs  which  heaven  af- 
fords." 


162  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


SIN  FOR  GIVEN  IN  OLD  A  GE. 

Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet^  they  shall  be  as  while  as 
snow. — Isaiah  i.,  i8. 

(  Oh  ye  that  lean  wearily  on  your  staff!  the  sup- 
port of  your  old  age,  have  ye  not  sins  still  clinging 
to  your  garments  ?  Are  your  lives  as  white  as  the 
snowy  hair  that  crowns  your  head  ?  Do  you  not 
still  feel  that  transgression  besmears  the  skirts  of 
your  robe  and  mars  its  spotlessness  ?  How  often 
are  you  now  plunged  into  the  ditch  till  your  own 
clothes  do  abhor  you  ?  Cast  your  eyes  over  the  six- 
ty, the  seventy,  the  eighty  years  during  which  God 
hath  spared  your  lives,  and  can  ye  for  a  moment 
think  it  possible  that  ye  can  number  up  your  innu- 
merable transgressions,  or  compute  the  weight  of 
the  crimes  which  you  have  committed  ?  Oh  ye 
stars  of  heaven  !  the  astronomer  may  measure  your 
distance  and  tell  your  height,  but,  oh  ye  sins  of  man- 
kind !  ye  surpass  all  thought.  Oh  ye  lofty  moun- 
tains, the  home  of  the  tempest,  the  birthplace  of  the 
storm !  man  may  climb  your  summits  and  stand 
wonderingly  upon  your  snows,  but,  ye  hills  of  sin ! 
ye  tower  higher  than  our  thoughts ;  ye  chasms  of 
transgressions  !  ye  are  deeper  than  our  imagination 
dares  to  dive.     Do  you  accuse  me  of  slandering  hu- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  163 

man  nature  ?  It  is  because  you  know  it  not.  If 
God  had  once  manifested  your  heart  to  yourself, 
you  would  bear  me  witness  that,  so  far  from  exag- 
gerating, my  poor  words  fail  to  describe  the  desper- 
ateness  of  our  evil.  Oh !  if  we  could  each  of  us 
look  into  our  hearts  to-day — if  our  eyes  could  be 
turned  within  so  as  to  see  the  iniquity  that  is  graven 
as  with  the  point  of  the  diamond  upon  our  stony 
hearts,  we  should  then  say  to  the  minister,  that  how- 
ever he  may  depict  the  desperateness  of  guilt,  yet 
can  he  not  by  any  means  surpass  it.  How  great, 
then,  beloved,  must  be  the  ransom  of  Christ  when 
he  saved  us  from  all  these  sins !  The  men  for 
whom  Jesus  died,  however  great  their  sin,  when 
they  believe,  are  justified  from  all  their  transgres- 
sions. Though  they  may  have  indulged  in  every 
vice  and  every  lust  which  Satan  could  suggest  and 
which  human  nature  could  perform,  yet,  once  be- 
lieving, all  their  guilt  is  washed  away.  Year  after 
year  may  have  coated  them  w  ith  blackness  till  their 
sin  hath  become  of  double  dye  ;  but  in  one  moment 
of  faith,  one  triumphant  moment  of  confidence  in 
Christ,  the  great  redemption  takes  away  the  guilt 
of  numerous  years.  Nay,  more  ;  if  it  w  ere  possible 
for  all  the  sins  that  men  had  done,  in  thought,  or 
word,  or  deed,  since  worlds  were  made  or  time  be- 
gan, to  meet  on  one  poor  head,  the  great  redemp- 


1G4  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

tion  is  all-sufficient  to  take  all  these  sins  away,  and 
wash  the  sinner  whiter  than  the  driven  snow.— Spur- 

GEON. 


RELIGIOUS  DEPRESSION. 

There  are  hours  in  which  physical  derangement 
darkens  the  windows  of  the  soul ;  days  in  which 
shattered  nerves  make  life  simply  endurance ; 
months  and  years  in  which  intellectual  difficulties, 
pressing  for  solution,  shut  out  God.  Then  faith 
must  be  replaced  by  hope.  "What  I  do  thou 
knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter." 
Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him  ;  but 
righteousness  and  truth  are  the  habitation  of  his 
throne.  "  My  soul,  hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall 
yet  praise  him,  who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance 
and  my  God." 

David's  hope  was  in  God. 

The  mistake  we  make  is  to  look  for  a  source  of 
comfort  in  ourselves  ;  self-contemplation,  instead  of 
gazing  upon  God.  In  other  words,  we  look  for 
comfort  precisely  where  comfort  can  never  be. 

For,  first,  it  is  impossible  to  derive  consolation 
from  our  feelings,  because  of  their  mutability ;  to- 
day we  are  well,  and  our  spiritual  experience,  par- 
taking of  these  circumstances,  is  bright ;  but  to-mor- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  165 

row  some  outward  circumstances  change — the  sun 
does  not  shine,  or  the  wind  is  chill,  and  we  are  low, 
gloomy,  and  sad.  Then,  if  our  hopes  were  unrea- 
sonably elevated,  they  will  now  be  unreasonably  de- 
pressed ;  and  so  our  experience  becomes  flux  and 
reflux,  ebb  and  flow,  like  the  sea,  that  emblem  of  in- 
stability. 

Next,  it  is  impossible  to  get  comforts  from  our 
own  acts ;  for,  though  acts  are  the  test  of  character, 
yet  in  a  low  state  no  man  can  judge  justly  of  his 
own  acts.  They  assume  a  darkness  of  hue  which 
is  reflected  on  them  by  the  eye  that  contemplates 
them.  It  would  be  well  for  all  men  to  remember 
that  sinners  can  not  judge  of  sin,  least  of  all  can 
we  estimate  our  own  sin. 

Besides,  we  lose  time  in  remorse.  I  have  sinned. 
Well,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  must  endeavor  to  do 
better  for  the  future.  But  if  I  mourn  for  it  over- 
much all  to-day,  refusing  to  be  comforted,  to-morrow 
I  shall  have  to  mourn  the  wasted  to-day,  and  that, 
again,  will  be  the  subject  of  another  fit  of  remorse. 

In  the  wilderness,  had  the  children  of  Israel,  in- 
stead of  gazing  on  the  serpent,  looked  down  on  their 
own  wounds,  to  watch  the  process  of  the  granula- 
tion of  the  flesh,  and  see  how  deep  the  wound  was, 
and  whether  it  was  healing  slowly  or  fast,  cure 
would  have  been  impossible ;  their  only  chance  was 


166  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

to  look  off  the  wounds.  Just  so,  when  giving  up 
this  hopeless  and  sickening  work  of  self-inspection, 
and  turning  from  ourselves  in  Christian  self-obUv- 
ion,  we  gaze  on  God,  then  first  the  chance  of  con- 
solation dawns. 

He  is  not  affected  bj  our  mutability;  our  changes 
do  not  alter  him.  When  we  are  restless,  he  remains 
serene  and  calm ;  when  we  are  low,  selfish,  mean, 
or  dispirited,  he  is  still  the  unalterable  /  AM — "  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,  in  whom  is  no 
variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning."  What 
God  is  in  himself — not  what  we  may  chance  to  feel 
him  in  this  or  that  moment  to  be — that  is  our  hope. 
*'  My  soul,  hope  thou  in  God." — F.  W.  Robertson. 


THE  BELIEVER'S  DEATH 
Though  a  believer  may  have  his  darkness,  doubts, 
and  fears,  and  many  conflicts  of  soul  while  on  his 
dying  bed,  yet  usually  these  are  all  over  and  gone 
before  his  last  moments  come.  From  the  gracious 
promises  of  God  to  be  with  his  people  even  unto 
death,  and  from  the  observations  I  have  made 
through  the  course  of  my  life,  I  am  of  opinion  that 
generally  the  people  of  God  die  comfortably,  their 
spiritual  enemies  being  made  to  be  as  still  as  a  stone 
while  they  pass  through  Jordan. — John  Gill. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  167 


SUFFERING  A  HIGHER  PATH  THAN  DOING. 

Saul  had  anxiously  inquired,  "What  wouldst  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?"  Our  Lord  sends  his  minister  to 
tell  him,  not  what  great  things  he  shall  do,  but  what 
far  greater  things  he  shall  suffer. 

Sufferings  are,  after  all,  the  great  achievements 
of  the  Christian.  Where  one  man  is  permitted  to 
effect  mighty  things  for  his  Lord  by  carrying  the 
words  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  over  the  burning 
sands  of  Africa,  or  the  frozen  mountains  of  the 
north,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  are  called 
to  the  high  privilege  of  the  Philippians  of  old,  "  not 
only  to  believe,  but  also  to  suffer  for  his  name's 
sake."  To  sit  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left  are 
not  now  to  be  given,  but  to  drink  of  his  cup  of  trial, 
and  to  be  baptized  with  his  baptism  of  affliction,  are 
still  among  the  choicest  blessings  which  he  bestows 
upon  his  people.  Be  not,  then,  disappointed,  if  with 
every  desire  to  do  great  things  for  your  -divine 
Master,  you  are  denied  the  power  or  the  opportuni- 
ty. If,  as  it  has  been  beautifully  said,  "  They  also 
serve  who  only  stand  and  wait,"  how  much  more  do 
they  serve  who  are  called  upon  to  endure  and  to 
suffer !  Yes  ;  in  the  chamber  of  sickness,  upon  the 
bed  of  pain,  you  may  as  greatly  glorify  your  Re- 


1C8  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

deemer  as  amid  the  trials  of  the  mission  or  the  tor- 
tures of  the  stake ;  and  often  does  it  please  your 
heavenly  Father  that  while  you  are  meditating 
what  great  things  you  shall  do  for  Christ,  he  is  pre- 
paring the  great  things  you  shall  suffer. 


THE  ABIDING  CITY. 

For  here  we  have  no  continuing  city. — Hebrews  xiii.,  14, 

We've  no  abiding  city  here : 

This  may  distress  the  worldling's  mind, 

But  should  not  cost  the  soul  a  tear, 
"Who  hopes  a  better  rest  to  find. 

We've  no  abiding  city  here : 

Sad  truth  !  were  this  to  be  our  home; 

But  let  this  thought  our  spirits  cheer — 
We  seek  a  city  yet  to  come. 

We've  no  abiding  city  here : 

Then  let  us  live  as  pilgrims  do ; 
Let  not  the  world  our  rest  appear, 

But  let  us  haste  from  all  below. 

We've  no  abiding  city  here : 

We  seek  a  city  out  of  sight ; 
Zion  its  name,  the  Lord  is  there. 

It  shines  with  everlasting  light. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  169 

Zion  !  Jehovah  is  her  strength ; 

Secure  she  smiles  at  all  her  foes ; 
And  weary  travelers  at  length 

Within  her  sacred  walls  repose. 

Oh  sweet  abode  of  peace  and  love, 
Where  pilgrims  freed  from  toil  are  bless'd ! 

Had  I  the  pinions  of  the  dove, 
I'd  fly  to  Thee,  and  be  at  rest. 

Thomas  Kelly. 


LOOKING  TO  CHRIST. 

There  is  no  holiness  if  thou,  Lord,  withdraw  thy 
presence ;  no  wisdom  profiteth  if  thy  Spirit  cease 
to  direct ;  no  strength  availeth  without  thy  support ; 
no  chastity  is  safe  without  thy  protection;  no 
watchfulness  effectual  when  thy  holy  vigilance  is 
not  our  guard ;  for  no  sooner  are  we  left  to  ourselves 
than  the  waves  of  corruption  rush  upon  us,  and  we 
sink  and  perish ;  but  if  thou  reach  forth  thy  omnip- 
otent hand,  we  walk  upon  the  sea  and  live.  In 
our  own  nature  we  are  unsettled  as  the  sand  upon 
the  mountain,  but  in  thee  we  have  the  stability  of 
the  throne  in  heaven.  We  are  cold  and  insensible 
as  darkness  and  death,  but  are  kindled  with  light 
and  life  by  the  holy  fire   of  thy  love. — Thomas  a 

Kempis. 

M 


170  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


S03IE  NOBLE  LIVES. 

A  LIFE  OF  FAITK 

We  are  called  Christians,  and  our  name  connects 
us  with  Christ.  For  our  Christian  life  is  one  of 
faith.  We  are  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  men 
by  believing  Christ.  We  are  marked  by  our  faith. 
The  object  of  that  faith  is  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Son 
of  God.  He  was  disclosed  to  us  in  the  Word.  The 
Holy  Spirit  fixed  our  attention  on  him,  showed  us 
our  need  of  him  as  Savior,  and  in  his  own  way  led 
us  to  trust  in  him  and  be  his.  This  distinguishes 
us  from  all  who  are  living  to  themselves  or  to  the 
devil.  They  may  assign  different  reasons  for  their 
course  of  conduct  when  you  take  them  to  task.  You 
inquire  why  they  are  not  religious,  which  they  are 
likely  to  interpret  in  reference  to  their  acts,  such  as 
going  to  the  church  and  receiving  the  communion. 
They  will  tell  you,  perhaps,  they  do  not  like  the 
church,  or  the  minister,  or  the  pew,  or  the  worship- 
ers^ — any  thing  but  the  simple  fact  that  they  do  not 
wish  for  the  inward  power  of  religion.  They  do 
not  desire  to  be  what  Christ  would  have  them  to  be. 
Just  as  there  are  persons  who  do  not  choose  to  be 
under  the  oversight  of  a  minister,  to  be  missed  from 
church,  or  to  be  warned  or  cautioned,  and  who  in- 


nple    Services  at  the   Fifth  Avenwe  Prss- 
byterian  Church  Yesterday. 

-     tho  Firth  Avonue  Presbyterian  Churc" 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  171 

vent  other  reasons  for  their  conduct,  so  there  are 
unbehevers  in  Christ  who  offer  reasons  for  their 
ways  altogether  wide  of  the  truth.  They  are  averse 
to  the  fellowship,  to  the  law,  to  the  authority  of  him 
whom  we  preach  as  a  Savior  from  sin,  but  they 
will  not  say  so  in  words.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
godly  life  is  a  life  of  faith,  beginning  and  running 
on  through  faith.  The  story  of  Benjamin  West,  the 
greatest  artist  America  has  yet  produced,  may  well 
illustrate  this  truth.  When  a  boy  of  seven,  he  was 
sitting  by  the  cradle  of  an  elder  sister's  infant,  when 
the  child  smiled  in  its  sleep.  Charmed  with  its 
beauty,  the  boy  got  paper  and  made  a  portrait  of  it ; 
the  kiss  that  acknowledged  his  effort  inspired  him 
to  follow  the  bent  of  his  taste.  There  were  no 
models,  no  teachers.  The  simple  Quaker  people, 
of  whom  he  was  one,  were  on  principle  opposed  to 
his  art,  though  they  gave  way  afterward,  and  through 
extraordinary  difficulties  he  prosecuted  his  career, 
in  Philadelphia,  Rome,  and  London,  till  he  was  Pres- 
ident of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  the  painter  of 
"  Death  on  the  Pale  Horse."  From  the  first  to  the 
last,  the  one  prevailing  taste  urged  him  on.  It  was 
his  life.  So  it  is  with  the  believer,  from  the  time 
when  the  Redeemer  wins  his  regard,  attracts  his 
confidence,  and  becomes  the  object  of  his  faith. 
And  how  does  Christ  attract  the  soul  ?     As  he 


172  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

attracted  Paul's.  Let  the  apostle  tell  it  himself, 
"Who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me."  The 
manifested  love  of  Christ  w^ins  the  confidence  of  the 
heart.  And  what  is  the  character  of  that  love  ?  It 
is  free  ;  unbought ;  unsolicited ;  saving  ;  self-  deny- 
ing ;  it  is  love  unto  death,  measured  by  the  height 
of  heaven,  w^hence  Christ  came  down,  by  the  depth 
of  sorrow  and  humiliation  to  which  he  descended — 
'Who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me."  Meas- 
ure it !  Nay,  it  is  immeasurable  ;  infinite ;  everlast- 
ing. And  it  has,  if  possible,  another  charm.  It  is 
individual  love.  David  was  a  true  patriot,  but  in 
the  nature  of  things  every  Hebrew  could  not  be  a 
Jonathan  to  him.  But  to  the  Redeemer  of  men 
every  believer  is  as  a  brother,  loved  with  an  indi- 
vidualizing love — "Who  loved  me  and  gave  him- 
self for  me."  When  we  look  on  the  clear,  starry 
sky,  we  are  perplexed  by  the  multitude  of  lights, 
and  we  can  only  single  out  and  identify  the  brighter 
among  them.  But  the  astronomer  will  fix  his  glass 
on  one  far  away  in  the  silent  depths,  and  watch 
it  in  its  movements  as  if  there  was  not  another 
twinkling  sister  in  all  the  sky.  And  so  through 
all  the  ages,  and  all  the  millions  of  chosen  saints 
—  stars-to-be  in  heaven  forever  —  the  eye  of  the 
Redeemer,  all -seeing,  fixes  its  gaze  on  each  as 
truly  as  if  there  were  not  another,  and  settles  the 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  173 

plan  of  his  life  as  if  it  were  the  sole  object  of  his 
care. 


A  LIFE  ''IN  TEE  FLESH:' 

Some  one  may  pronounce  such  a  life  as  I  have 
described  transcendental  and  impossible  except  in 
heaven.  But  it  is  a  hfe  ''  in  the  flesh ;"  not  in  the 
bad  sense,  as  opposed  to  life  in  the  spirit,  but  in  the 
good  sense,  as  opposed  to  life  in  glory.  Paul  says 
the  life  which  he  lived  "  in  the  flesh"  he  hved  "  by 
the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God." 

Being  a  life  in  the  flesh,  it  is  subject  to  all  the  con- 
ditions of  earthly  life.     Faith  in  Christ  will  not  ex- 
empt from  the  pain  that  racks  the  body,  nor  from 
the  sorrow  that  harrows  the  mind.    It  will  not  avert 
the  temptation  to  evil,  though  it  will  help  to  resist 
It,  and  it  will  not  ward  off*  weariness,  though  it  en- 
ables us  to  hold  out  when  any  other  power  would 
fail.     It  will  not  secure  us  against  errors  and  mis- 
takes, though  it  makes  us  sorry  for  them,  and  sets 
us  to  repair  them  ;  and  it  will  not  avert  death,  though 
it  makes  us  more  than  conquerors  over  it.     The 
earth  is  redeemed,  but  the  thorns  and  the  thistles 
still  remain.     The  curse  is  lifted  off" the  Lord's  peo- 
ple, though  they  still  toil  uncertainly,  and  with  labor 
and  pain.     But  the   thorns   and  thistles  have  been 
converted  into    benefits,  and   the   toil  and  anxiety 


174  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

turned  into  lesson-books  in  which  God's  children  ac- 
quire the  knowledge  of  sin,  of  themselves,  and  of 
God.  How  shall  they  know  how  evil  and  bitter 
transgression  is  if  they  feel  not  its  temporal  conse- 
quences ?  These  are  shut  out  of  heaven.  Where 
shall  they  learn  such  graces  as  patience,  submission, 
and  contentment  under  privations  if  not  on  earth  ? 
Heaven  has  nothing  to  evoke  or  exercise  these 
graces.  Paul,  therefore,  who  lives  the  life  of  faith, 
has  his  share  of  "  tribulation,"  but  he  glories  in  it. 
He  endures  sufferings,  but  he  rejoices  in  them.  I 
can  not  but  think  that  the  Hebrew  children,  if  they 
had  any  eyes  for  the  fires,  or  for  any  thing  but  their 
Companion,  might  have  looked  with  some  pardon- 
able exultation  on  the  flames  that  raged  impotent 
around  them.  And  so  do  the  godly,  when  faith  is 
in  full  vigor  within,  feel  their  advantage  over  the 
trials  of  this  present  time,  as  a  general  on  the  bat- 
tle-field when  he  takes  and  turns  upon  his  foes  their 
own  guns.  "  For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but 
for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 

A  LIFE  OF  SELF-DENYING  EFFORT. 

But,  as  it  is  "  a  life  in  the  flesh,"  the  hfe  of  the 
godly  must  be  a  life  of  self-denial.  There  are  ap- 
petites within  us  calling  for  indulgence.     They  must 


LIGHT  AT  EVEN  IN  a  TIME.  175 

be  held  in  check.  There  are  tastes  seeking  grati- 
fication. They  must  be  held  in  their  place.  There 
are  passions  ready  to  leap  forth  upon  their  respect- 
ive objects  ;  and,  like  appetites  and  tastes,  they  must 
be  kept  under  the  all-dominating  sway  of  conscience. 
That  conscience  has  authority  from  God.  We  may 
deny  it  the  power,  but,  like  a  rightful  sovereign  de- 
throned, it  has  authority  to  utter  its  commands, 
though  passions,  like  rebellious  subjects,  may  be  too 
powerful  to  be  forced  to  obedience.  Its  court  is 
set  up  by  our  Creator,  and  it  makes  and  issues  its 
decrees.  We  may  refuse  it  executive  power.  It 
will,  however,  proceed  to  register  its  judgments;  and 
the  finally  impenitent  shall  read  them,  if  not  here, 
in  the  light  of  the  great  white  throne,  and  it  may  be 
through  eternity.  We  must  see  that  conscience  be 
at  once  enlightened  by  the  Word  that  its  sentences 
be  just,  and  that  it  be  obeyed. 

This  implies  diligence  in  keeping  the  heart;  watch- 
fulness against  temptations  ;  resistance  to  evil ;  and 
endurance  in  the  struggle — all  which  are  against 
our  natural  love  of  ease.  But  they  are  necessary. 
Many  things  impair  the  health  though  they  are  not 
fatal ;  and  a  godly  man  would  have  the  utmost  vigor 
with  which  to  serve  God.  He  must  sleep  like  the 
soldier  who  lies  down  with  his  weapons  beside  him 
on  the  battle-field  to  guard  against  a  surprise. 


17C  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

"  Soldier,  rest,  but  not  for  thee 

Spreads  the  world  its  downy  pillow ; 
On  the  rock  thy  couch  must  be, 

While  around  thee  chafes  the  billow. 
Thine  must  be  a  watchful  sleep, 

Wearier  than  another's  waking; 
Such  a  charge  as  thou  dost  keep 

Brooks  no  moment  of  forsaking." 

A  LIFE  OF  DEPENDENCE. 

And  on  this  account  also  is  a  godly  life  a  life  of 
dependence.  A  good  man  does  not  gQi  a  store  of 
grace  at  his  conversion  to  serve  him  all  his  life.  He 
gets  it  daily,  hourly.  The  children  of  God  get  the 
manna  as  they  require  it,  that  they  may  learn  de- 
pendence on  God.  To  live  "  from  hand  to  mouth," 
as  the  proverb  has  it,  in  things  temporal,  is  far  from 
being  prudent,  but  it  is  the  only  w^ise  way  in  things 
spiritual.  And  this  dependence  is  .complete.  We 
get  holiness  from  the  same  saving  grace  that  brings 
us  forgiveness.  An  incident  of  the  crucifixion  is 
left  on  record,  doubtless,  to  teach  us  this.  A  sol- 
dier pierced  the  Savior's  side  with  his  spear,  and 
"  forthwith  came  thereout  blood  and  water."  Both 
came  from  the  wounded  side.  The  atonement  that 
brings  pardon  is  attended  by  the  water  that  puri- 
fies. "Both  elements  flow  from  the  same  heart  of 
love,  pierced  by  the  spear  of  justice,  and  are  poured 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  177 

out  with  the  same  design  and  for  the  same  per- 
sons." 

A  TRULY  NOBLE  LIFE, 

But  let  no  one  be  repelled  by  the  general  aspect 
of  this  godly  life;  for,  after  all,  it  employs  the  no- 
blest and  best  feelings  of  which  our  nature  is  ca- 
pable. It  is  a  life  of  the  loftiest  style  attainable  by 
man.  It  carries  us  farthest  away  from  the  mean  and 
the  sordid.  Look  at  its  exercises.  Hope  smooths 
the  brow,  lightens  the  eye,  and  nerves  the  arm. 

"  Auspicious  Hope !  in  whose  sweet  garden  grow 
Wreaths  for  each  toil,  a  charm  for  every  woe." 

Hume  was  no  sentimentalist ;  he  saw  that  "  a  pro- 
pensity to  hope  and  joy  is  real  riches ;  to  fear  and 
sorrow,  real  poverty."  Hope  is  the  medicine  of  the 
miserable. 

"  True  Lope  is  swift,  and  flies  with  swallows'  wings, 
Kings  it  makes  gods,  and  meaner  creatures  kings." 

So  many  have  said  of  hope — their  common  earthly 
hope — of  which,  as  Leighton  says,  they  dare  only 
say  "  dum  spii^o  spero'  (while  I  breathe  I  hope), 
but  the  children  of  God  can  say  ''duni  expiro  sperd' 
(while  I  die  I  hope).  Hope,  joy,  gratitude,  love, 
these    are   the   feelings   this   life   brings   into   play. 


178  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

They  are  the  highest  we  can  exercise.  If  our 
hearts  are  to  be  opened  and  expanded ;  if  despond- 
ency is  to  be  commanded  away ;  if  selfishness  is  to 
die  out  within  us,  these  are  the  very  feehngs  to  be 
employed  for  the  purpose.  Nor  is  there  any  thing 
tumultuous  in  their  movements,  for  peace  is  diffused 
over  all — such  peace  as  filled  the  holy  soul  of  Jesus 
Christ  when  making  it  his  meat  and  drink  to  do  his 
Father's  will.  Hence  gentleness,  goodness,  meek- 
ness come  into  play,  to  complete  the  harmony  of 
the  character,  and  to  render  the  child  of  God  Christ- 
like. Is  there  any  thing  mean  or  sordid  about  these 
feelings?  We  pity  the  desponding;  we  shun  the 
coarse  and  rude ;  we  despise  the  selfish  and  the  en- 
vious ;  we  fear  the  vindictive  and  the  malicious ; 
we  shrink  from  the  heartless  and  unloving ;  but  we 
cling  to  the  joyous  and  hopeful,  the  generous  and 
grateful.  We  admire  the  unselfish ;  we  are  drawn 
to  the  meek,  patient,  and  gentle ;  we  love  the  lov- 
ing. We  can  not  have  any  goodness  in  ourselves 
without  feeling  the  power  and  owning  the  worth  of 
these  qualities ;  but  these  are  just  the  qualities  in 
which  this  life  consists.  You  may  have  thought, 
dear  readers,  that  if  you  set  yourselves  to  be  godly 
people,  you  must  become  machines  rather  than  men, 
dull,  depressed  drudges,  working  out  your  slave's- 
task  of  duty  without  one  element  of  what  your  heart 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  179 

feels  to  be  "  life,"  until  you  get  into  heaven,  and  be- 
come, through  what  change  I  know  not,  capable  of 
enjoying  what  your  nature  here  counts  misery.  It 
is  a  hateful  lie.  Every  thing  that  belongs  to  real 
life  is  in  the  godly  here,  and  if  it  were  not  in  them 
here,  what  room  is  there  for  its  production  hereaft- 
er ?  Does  death  regenerate  ?  Does  the  stroke  that 
lays  low  the  body  alter  the  nature  of  the  soul  ?  No. 
Death  can  but  set  the  seal  of  changelessness  on  the 
character  it  finds  in  us.  If  we  be  living  a  life  on 
earth  "  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,"  death  can 
but  draw  aside  the  curtain  of  flesh,  and  let  the  light 
from  his  immediate  glory  fall  on  our  naked  souls, 
to  make  clear  and  perfect  that  image  of  himself 
which  only  showed  in  broken  lines  while  he  ap- 
peared dimly  to  our  hardly  unbelieving  hearts.  In 
the  warmth  and  security  of  heaven,  the  elements  of 
our  life,  that  were  like  stunted  shrubs  growing  in 
uncongenial  soil,  expand  into  the  perfection  of  their 
nature ;  but  these  elements  must  be  in  us  here,  or 
they  shall  never  be  matured  hereafter. — John  Hall. 


Grace  teaches  us,  in  the  midst  of  life's  greatest 
comforts,  to  be  willing  to  die,  and  in  the  midst  of  its 
greatest  crosses  to  be  willing  to  live. — Matthew 
Henry. 


ISO  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


FEELINGS  CHANGEFUL. 
The  variableness  of  Christian  moods  is  often  a 
matter  of  great  and  unnecessary  suffering ;  but 
Christian  hfe  does  not  follow  the  changes  of  feehng. 
Our  feelings  are  but  the  torch,  and  our  life  is  the 
man  that  carries  it.  The  wind  that  flares  the  flame 
does  not  make  the  man  waver.  The  flame  may 
sway  hither  and  thither,  but  he  holds  his  course 
straight  on.  Thus  oftentimes  it  is  that  our  Chris- 
tian hopes  are  carried  as  one  carries  a  lighted  can- 
dle through  the  windy  street,  that  seems  never  to  be 
so  nearly  blown  out  as  when  we  step  through  the 
open  door,  and  in  a  moment  are  safe  within.  Our 
wind-blown  feelings  rise  and  fall  through  all  our  life, 
and  the  draught  of  death  threatens  quite  to  extin- 
guish them ;  but  one  moment  more,  and  they  shall 
rise  and  forever  shine  serenely  in  the  unstormed  air 
of  heaven. — H.  W.  Beecher. 


WAITING  TIMES. 
Waiting  times  are  times  when  God  is  pleased  to 
give  his  people  some  sweet  tastes  of  his  love,  and 
to  lift  up  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon  them. — 
Thomas  Brooks. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  ISl 


THE  RETURNING  WANDERER, 

Weaey  of  wandering  from  my  God, 
And  now  made  willing  to  return, 

I  hear,  and  bow  me  to  the  rod ; 

For  Him,  not  without  hope,  I  mourn ; 

I  have  an  Advocate  above, 

A  friend  before  the  throne  of  Love. 

O  Jesu,  full  of  pardoning  grace, 
More  full  of  grace  than  I  of  sin, 

Yet  once  again  I  seek  Thy  face ; 
Open  Thine  arms  and  take  me  in, 

And  freely  my  backslidings  heal. 

And  love  the  faithless  sinner  still. 

Thou  know'st  the  way  to  bring  me  back, 

My  fallen  spirit  to  restore ; 
O,  for  Thy  truth  and  mercy's  sake. 

Forgive,  and  bid  me  sin  no  more ! 
The  ruins  of  my  soul  repair. 
And  make  my  heart  an  house  of  prayer. 

The  stone  to  flesh  again  convert, 
The  veil  of  sin  once  more  remove ; 

Drop  Thy  warm  blood  upon  my  heart, 
And  melt  it  with  Thy  dying  love : 

This  rebel  heart  by  love  subdue. 

And  make  it  soft,  and  make  it  new. 


182  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 

Give  to  mine  eyes  refreshing  tears, 
And  kindle  my  relentings  now ; 

Fill  all  my  soul  witli  filial  fears, 
To  tlie  sweet  yoke  my  spirits  bow ; 

Bend  by  Thy  grace — oh  bend,  or  break 

The  iron  sinew  in  my  neck. 

Ah !  give  me,  Lord,  the  tender  heart. 
That  trembles  at  th'  approach  of  sin ; 

A  godly  fear  of  sin  impart, 

Implant,  and  root  it  deep  within ; 

That  I  may  dread  Thy  gracious  power, 

And  never  dare  off*end  Thee  more. 

CnAELEs  Wesley. 


THE  SAINTS  DELIGHT  IN  GOB. 

In  what  transports  have  holy  souls  been  upon  the 
view  and  contemplation  of  his  sovereign  power  and 
dominion ;  his  wise  and  righteous  government ;  his 
large  and  flowing  goodness,  that  extends  in  com- 
mon to  all  the  works  of  his  hands  !  Labor  to  imi- 
tate the  ingenuous  and  loyal  affection  of  this  kind, 
whereof  you  find  many  expressions  in  the  sacred 
volume.  For  what  hath  been  master  of  delight  to 
saints  of  old  ought  surely  still  as  much  to  be  ac- 
counted so.     To  give  instances : 

You  sometimes  find  them  in  a  most  complacen- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  183 

tial  adoration  of  his  wonderful  wisdom  and  coun- 
sels. Oh  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  of  God !  How  unsearchable 
are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out! 
(Rom.  xi.,  33.)  And  again  :  To  God  only  wise,  be 
glory,  through  Jesus  Christ,  forever,  Amen  (Rom. 
xvi.,  27).  To  the  king  eternal,  immortal,  invisible, 
the  only  wise  God,  be  honor  and  glory  forever  (1 
Tim.  i.,  17),  etc.  To  the  only  wise  God  our  Savior 
be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power,  now 
and  ever  (Jude  25,  etc.).  Elsewhere  we  have  them 
in  transports  admiring  his  holiness.  Who  is  like 
unto  thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  gods !  Who  is  like 
thee,  glorious  in  holiness  !  (Exod.  xv.,  11.)  There 
is  none  holy  as  the  Lord ;  for  there  is  none  besides 
thee,  neither  is  there  any  rock  like  our  God  (1 
Sam.  ii.,  2).  And  this  is  recommended  and  enjoin- 
ed to  his  holy  ones  as  the  special  matter  of  their 
joy  and  praise :  Rejoice  in  the  Lord,  ye  righteous, 
and  give  thanks  at  the  remembrance  of  his  holiness 
(Psalm  xcvii.,  12).  At  other  times  we  have  their 
magnificent  celebrations  of  his  glorious  power,  and 
that  by  way  of  triumph  over  the  paganish  gods  :  Our 
God  is  in  the  heavens :  he  hath  done  whatsoever  he 
pleased  (Psalm  cxv.,  3).  Their  idols  are  silver  and 
gold,  etc.  Be  thou  exalted,  O  God,  in  thine  own 
strength  (Psalm  xxi.,  13).     We  will  sing  and  praise 


184  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

thy  power.  Forsake  me  not  until  I  have  showed 
thy  strength  unto  this  generation,  and  thy  power  to 
every  one  that  is  to  come  (Psalm  Ixxi.,  18).  This 
is  given  out  as  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb : 
Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy 
name  ?  Great  and  marvelous  are  thy  works,  Lord 
God  Almighty,  etc.  And  how  do  they  magnify  his 
mercy  and  goodness,  both  toward  his  own  people 
and  his  creatures  in  general  (Psalm  xxxi.,  19).  Oh 
how  great  is  thy  goodness  which  thou  hast  laid  up 
for  them  that  fear  thee ;  which  thou  hast  wrought  for 
them  that  trust  in  thee  before  the  children  of  men ! 
Rejoice  in  the  Lord,  O  ye  righteous,  for  praise  is 
comely  for  the  upright ;  praise  the  Lord  with  harp ; 
sing  unto  him  with  the  psaltery  (Psalm  xxxiii.,  1, 
etc.).  The  earth  is  full  of  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord.  I  will  extol  thee,  my  God,  oh  King ;  I  will 
bless  thy  name  for  ever  and  ever  (Psalm  cxlv.,  1, 
etc.).  Men  shall  speak  of  the  might  of  thy  terrible 
acts  ;  they  shall  abundantly  utter  the  memory  of  thy 
great  goodness,  and  shall  sing  of  thy  righteousness. 
The  Lord  is  gracious  and  full  of  compassion,  slow 
to  anger,  and  of  great  mercy.  The  Lord  is  good  to 
all,  and  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works. 
To  insert  all  that  might  be  mentioned  to  this  pur- 
pose were  to  transcribe  a  great  part  of  the  Bible. 
And  in  what  raptures  do  we  often  find  them  in  the 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  185 

contemplation  of  his  faithfulness  and  truth;  his  jus- 
tice and  righteousness  ;  his  eternity  ;  the  boundless- 
ness of  his  presence  ;  the  greatness  of  his  works  ; 
the  extcnsiveness  of  his  dominion ;  the  perpetuity 
of  his  kingdom ;  the  exactness  of  his  government. 
Who  is  a  strong  God  like  unto  thee,  and  to  thy 
faithfulness  round  about  thee  ?  (Psalm  Ixix.)  Thy 
mercy,  O  Lord,  is  in  the  heavens,  and  thy  faithful- 
ness reaches  unto  the  clouds  (Psalm  xxxvi.).  Be- 
fore the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever  thou 
hadst  formed  the  earth  or  the  world,  from  everlast- 
ing to  everlasting  thou  art  God  (Psalm  xc,  2). 
But  will  God  indeed  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  Behold, 
the  heaven  and  heaven  of  heavens  can  not  contain 
thee  (1  Kings  viii.).  The  works  of  the  Lord  are 
great,  sought  out  of  them  that  have  pleasure  there- 
in. His  work  is  honorable  and  glorious  (Psalm  cxi., 
etc.).  All  thy  works  shall  praise  thee,  O  Lord,  and 
thy  saints  shall  bless  thee ;  they  shall  speak  of  the 
glory  of  thy  kingdom,  and  talk  of  thy  power,  to  make 
known  to  the  sons  of  men  his  mighty  acts,  and  the 
glorious  majesty  of  his  kingdom  (Psalm  cxlv.). 
Thy  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  thy 
dominion  endureth  throughout  all  generations. 

And  his  glory  in  the  general  (which  results  from 
his  several  excellences  in  conjunction),  how  loftily 

is  it  often  celebrated  with  the  expression  of  the  most 

N 


186  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

loyal  desires,  that  it  may  be  every  where  renowned, 
and  of  greatest  complacency,  in  as  far  as  it  is  appre- 
hended so  to  be.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  en- 
dure forever.  They  shall  sing  in  the  ways  of  the 
Lord,  for  great  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  Be  thou 
exalted  above  the  heavens :  let  thy  glory  be  above 
all  the  earth  (Psalm  civ.,  31 ;  cxxxviii.,  5;  Ivii.,  7, 11). 
Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord,  for  his  name 
alone  is  excellent ;  his  glory  is  above  the  earth  and 
the  heavens  (Psalm  cxlviii.,  13).  When  you  read 
such  passages  as  these  (whether  they  be  elegies 
or  commendations  of  him,  or  doxologies  and  direct 
attributions  of  glory  to  him),  you  are  to  bethink 
yourselves  with  what  temper  of  heart  these  things 
were  uttered ;  with  how  raised  and  exalted  a  spir- 
it; what  high  delight  and  pleasure  was  conceived 
in  glorifying  God,  or  in  beholding  him  glorious. 
How  large  and  unbounded  a  heart,  and  how  full  of 
his  praise,  doth  still  every  where  discover  itself  in 
such  strains  ;  when  all  nations,  when  all  creatures — 
when  every  thing  that  hath  breath — when  heaven  and 
earth  are  invited  together  to  join  in  the  concert  and 
bear  a  part  in  his  praises  ! — John  Howe. 


<$$$ 


Sran  w?di»  t2e7 


HHETc  •^^TT,TI,Mlfl  IF  AX. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  187 


THE  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH  OF  ELISHA. 

2  Kings  xiii.,  14. 

Elijah  was  spared  the  common  doom  of  mortal- 
ity, and  was  taken  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  and  horses 
of  fire,  without  dying.  But  Ehsha,  who  had  honored 
God  so  much  longer,  goes  the  way  of  all  the  earth. 
Why  was  this  difference?  Even  so,  Father;  for 
so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight.  But  he  does  not 
die  of  natural  infirmity  ;  neither  does  he  die  sudden- 
ly— he  had  fallen  sick.  This  mode  of  dissolution 
was  less  desirable  with  regard  to  comfort,  but  it  was 
more  favorable  to  usefulness.  It  afforded  him  op- 
portunity for  glorifying  God,  and  instructing  and 
impressing  his  attendants.  And  "  the  chamber 
where  the  good  man  meets  his  fate"  has  often  been 
to  others,  as  well  as  to  the  dying  individual  himself, 
the  house  of  God,  and  the  gate  of  heaven. — Wil- 
liam Jay. 


PO  VER  TY  IN  OLD  A  GE 

When  Mr.  Wilberforce  had  lost  his  fortune  and 
was  in  reduced  circumstances — his  confidence  was 
still  in  God — he  said,  "  He  will  not  suflfer  me  to  be 
disgraced  in  my  old  age.     What  gives  me  support 


188  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

in  all  things  is  the  thought  of  their  being  his  ap- 
pointment. I  doubt  not  that  the  same  God  who 
has  in  mercy  ordered  so  many  events  for  so  long  a 
course  of  time,  will  never  fail  to  overrule  all  things 
both  for  my  family  and  myself"  And  on  recover- 
ing from  a  temporary  illness,  "  I  can  scarce  under- 
stand," he  said,  "  why  my  life  is  spared  so  long  ex- 
cept it  be  to  show  that  a  man  can  be  as  happy  with- 
out a  fortune  as  with  one ;"  and  then  soon  after, 
when  his  only  surviving  daughter  died,  he  writes, 
"  I  have  often  heard  that  sailors  on  a  voyage  will 
drink  '  Friends  a-stern  till  they  are  half  way  over, 
then '  Friends  a-head.'  With  me  it  has  been  '  Friends 
a-head'  this  long  time." 


THE  BELIEVER'S  SUFFICIENCY. 

k:  Thus  saith  the  Lord  that  created  thee,  O  Jacob, 
and  he  that  formed  thee,  O  Israel,  Fear  not.  I  have 
redeemed  thee ;  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name." 

What  a  beautiful  thought  that  is !  Just  get  the 
meaning  and  beauty  out  of  it.  How  many  thou- 
sands of  believers,  thousands  and  thousands  of  be- 
lievers, have  there  been  in  the  world  from  the  be- 
ginning of  its  history  until  now — thousands  in  the 
patriarchal  ages  who  looked  through  the  glass,  and 
who  saw  dimly  the  streak  of  the  morning  in  the  dis- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  189 

tance,  and  even  with  that  streak  of  hght  were  glad 
— thousands  in  the  prophetical  times  who  discov- 
ered it  in  the  brightness  of  a  nearer  vision — thou- 
sands who  basked  in  its  full  -  orbed  lustre  when 
Christ  came  into  the  world — thousands  upon  thou- 
sands since  that  time  who  have  washed  their  robes 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb — 
thousands  who  are  now  upon  the  earth  working  out 
their  salvation  with  fear  and  tremblinof — thousands 
upon  thousands  that  shall  come  into  the  Church  in 
the  time  of  its  millennial  glory,  when  the  gates  of  it 
shall  not  be  shut  day  nor  night,  because  the  porter 
shall  have  no  chance  of  shutting  them,  the  people 
crowd  in  so  fast.  Now  get  all  that  mass  of  believ- 
ers, past,  present,  and  future,  a  company  that  no  man 
can  number,  and  to  each  of  them  God  comes  in  this 
promise,  and  says,  "  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name ; 
I  know  all  about  thee"- — that  is,  I  have  not  a  merely 
vague,  indefinite  knowledge  of  thee.  As  an  indi- 
vidual believer,  I  know  thy  name  ;  I  could  single 
thee  out  of  millions;  I  could  tell  the  world  all  thy 
solicitudes,  and  all  thy  apprehensions,  and  all  thy 
hopes,  and  all  thy  sorrows.  "  I  have  called  thee  by 
thy  name."  Oh,  precious  promise  !  Take  it  to  your 
hearts.  "I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name;  thou  art 
mine.  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters  I 
will  be  with  thee,  and  through  the  rivers"  —  deep- 


190  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

er  than  the  waters — they  shall  not  overflow  thee. 
"  When  thou  walkest  through  the  fire  thou  shalt 
not  be  burned,  neither  shall  the  flames  kindle  upon 
thee." — W.  M.  Punshon. 


ENTERING  INTO  REST. 

And  while  the  soul  shall  pass  to  God,  to  enter  on 
the  rest  of  glory,  the  mortal  body  has  its  rest  no 
less,  sleeping  peacefully  till  the  resurrection  day. 
And  when  the  green  grass  of  another  June  waves 
over  us ;  when  the  soft  summer  wind  of  another 
June  sighs  through  the  green  leaves ;  when  the  sun- 
shine of  some  more  genial  longest  day  shall  bright- 
en cheerfully  the  stone  which  shall  bear  our  name 
and  yours,  what  better  can  we  wish  than  that,  if  we 
leave  behind  us  those  who  may  sometimes  visit  the 
quiet  spot,  they  may  be  able  to  say,  humbly  and 
hopefully,  "  Surely  here  at  last,  and  surely  there  in 
a  better  place,  the  weary  heart  and  hand  are  still ; 
yea,  surely  God  hath  given  his  beloved  sleep?" — 
Madame  de  Gasparin. 


Grace  tried  is  better  than  grace,  as  it  is  more 
than  grace  —  it  is  glory  in  its  infancy.  —  Samuel 
Rutherford. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  191 


THE  TR  0  UBLES  OF  LIFE. 

Sometimes  I  compare  the  troubles  which  we  have 
to  undergo  in  the  course  of  the  year  to  a  great  bun- 
dle of  fagots,  far  too  great  for  us  to  hft ;  but  God 
does  not  require  us  to  carry  the  whole  at  once.  He 
mercifully  unties  the  bundle,  and  gives  us  first  one 
stick,  which  we  are  to  carry  to-day,  and  then  anoth- 
er, which  we  are  to  carry  to-morrow,  and  so  on. 
This  we  might  easily  manage  if  we  would  only 
take  the  burden  appointed  for  us  each  day ;  but  we 
choose  to  increase  our  troubles  by  carrying  yester- 
day's stick  over  again  to-day,  and  adding  to-mor- 
row's burden  to  our  load  before  we  are  required  to 
bear  it. — John  Newton. 


PATIENT  WAITING. 

"  Patience,  poor  soul !  the  Savior's  feet  were  worn ; 
The  Savior's  heart  and  hands  were  weary  too ; 
His  garments  stained,  and  travel- worn,  and  old ; 

His  vision  blinded  with  a  pitying  dew. 
Love  thou  the  paths  of  sorrow  that  he  trod  ; 
Toil  on,  and  wait  in  patience  for  thy  rest ; 
Oh  !  city  of  our  God,  we  soon  shall  see 

Thy  glorious  walls — home  of  the  loved  and  bless'd.' 

Ano7i. 


192  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 


THROUGH  DARKNESS  TO  LIGHT. 

....  It  dwelt  on  her  mind  that  for  some  defi- 
ciency in  her  Christian  character  this  chastisement 
had  been  appointed.  The  language  of  her  contrite 
prayer  was,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" 
And  he  told  her ;  and  she  became  a  mother  in  Israel ; 
a  sleepless,  untiring  benevolence  was  the  striking 
lineaments  of  her  life.  After  the  stroke  of  widow- 
hood fell  upon  her,  and  she  stood  entirely  alone,  it 
seemed  as  if  every  vestige  of  selfishness  was  ex- 
tinct, and  that  her  whole  existence  was  devoted  to 
the  good  of  others. — Anon. 


PERSONAL  GOODNESS. 
It  is  common  enough  to  confound  religion  with 
a  series  of  religious  acts.  A  man's  prayers  are  of- 
fered with  regularity ;  his  place  in  God's  house  is 
never  vacant;  his  donation  is  never  wanting  when 
there  is  a  call  upon  him ;  he  goes  regularly  to  "  the 
communion."  But  these  religious  acts  are  only  the 
stones  in  the  river  of  his  life,  which  flows  through 
them  and  over  them,  but  is  not  of  them.  Hard,  dis- 
tinct, and,  in  part,  of  another  nature  from  his  life, 
they  are  interruptions   of  the   current  of  his  being 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  193 

rather  than  a  help  to  it  or  a  part  of  it.  Rehgion  of 
the  true  and  genuine  kind,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the 
water  of  the  river.  It  has  entered  into  the  man's 
being.  It  has  penetrated  his  heart,  and  guided  his 
affections.  It  has  reached  his  will,  and  touched  its 
springs.  It  has  moulded  his  tastes,  and  bridled  his 
appetites.  It  has  helped  to  form  his  plans,  and  col- 
ored his  being.  His  love  to  God  has  become  as 
truly  a  part  of  his  being  as  his  love  to  wife  or  child. 
He  is  not  doing  religion — he  is  religious.  "  The 
Word  and  the  sacraments,"  says  Henry  Smith,  the 
Puritan,  "  are  the  two  breasts  from  which  our  moth- 
er church  nurses  her  children."  But  the  dead  child 
can  not  be  nursed.  It  is  the  living  that  feed  on  the 
Word  and  sacraments.  They  only  can  say,  "  The 
life  I  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son 
of  God."  Then  let  us  look  at  the  " religious'  (as 
the  monk  is  called),  who  has  given  himself  up  to 
the  service  of  God.  His  garments  are  only  for  wor- 
ship. His  work  is  to  pray  and  praise.  He  is  a 
dweller  in  the  courts  of  God's  house.  He  is  de- 
voted to  "  reliofion."  Is  all  riofht  with  him  ?  Not 
necessarily.  His  seclusion,  that  shuts  him  out  from 
men,  may  not  shut  him  up  to  God.  He  may  be  in 
"religion,"  but  not  in  Christ.  He  may  put  on  the 
monk's  hood,  and  not  put  on  the  wedding  garment. 
Religion  is    not  only  life  —  it  is    an  inward  life 


194  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

There  may  be  an  unbroken  profession  of  godliness 
as  credible  as  that  of  Judas,  in  whose  cloak  of"  cov- 
etousness"  there  was  not  a  rent.  The  sheep's  cloth- 
ing may  fit  so  exactly  that  not  a  suspicion  shall  be 
raised ;  but  "  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you," 
and  if  it  be  not  there  the  forms  of  godliness  are 
forms  only. — John  Hall. 


DIFFICULTIES  SOLVED. 
Some  one  said  to  Copernicus,  "If  the  world  were 
constituted  as  you  say,  Venus  would  have  phases 
like  the  moon ;  she  has  none,  however.  What  have 
you  to  say  to  that  ?"  Copernicus  answered,  "  I  have 
no  reply  to  give,  but  God  will  be  so  good  as  that  an 
answer  to  this  difficulty  will  be  found."  In  fact, 
God  was  so  good  that  Galileo  invented  the  tele- 
scope with  which  these  phases  of  Venus  were  dis- 
covered ;  but  Copernicus  was  dead.  God  will  be 
so  good  that  we  shall  see  the  prodigies  of  his  pow- 
er ;  but  we  shall  then  be  living  an  eternal  life,  and 
shall  only  wonder  at  one  thing — our  own  former  dif- 
ficulties, when  we  could  depend  upon  the  great  God 
of  heaven  for  their  solution. — Madame  de  Gasparin. 


— But  Patience  was  willing  to  wait. — J.  Bunyan. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  195 


SA  VED  B  Y  GEA  CK 

Mr.  M'Laren  and  Mr.  Gustart  were  both  minis- 
ters of  tlie  Tolbooth  Church,  Edinburg.  When  Mr. 
M'Laren  was  dying,  Mr.  Gustart  paid  him  a  visit, 
and  put  the  question  to  him,  "  What  are  you  doing, 
brother?"  His  answer  was,  "I'll  tell  you  what  I 
am  doing,  brother.  I  am  gathering  together  all  my 
prayers,  all  my  sermons,  all  my  good  deeds,  all  my 
ill  deeds,  and  I  am  going  to  swim  to  glory  on  the 
plank  of  Free  Grace." — J.  Whitecross. 


WOEDS  OF  CHEER. 
Drooping  art  tliou  in  the  service 

Of  thy  loved  and  loving  Lord  ? 
Do  thy  hands,  thy  feet,  oft  falter? 

Listen  to  this  cheering  word  : 

To  the  faint  God  giveth  jJower, 
To  the  weak  increaseth  strength ; 

And  they  that  wait  on  him  shall  mount 
Up  on  eagles'  wings  at  length. 

They  shall  run  and  not  be  weary. 
They  shall  walk  and  shall  not  faint : 

Such  the  j)romise  of  thy  Father, 
"Weary,  yet  pursuing"  saint. 


196  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 


TRIAL  OF  THE  WORLDLY  CHRISTIAN. 

It  is  a  painful  work,  that  weeding  work.  "  Every 
branch  in  me  that  beareth  fruit,  he  purgeth  it,  that 
it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit."  The  keen  edge  of 
God's  pruning-knife  cuts  sheer  through.  No  weak 
tenderness  stops  him  whose  love  seeks  goodness, 
not  comfort,  for  his  servants.  A  man's  distractions 
are  in  his  wealth,  and  perhaps  fire  or  failure  make 
him  bankrupt.  What  he  feels  is  God's  sharp  knife. 
Pleasures  have  dissipated  his  heart,  and  a  strick- 
en frame  forbids  his  enjoying  pleasure.  Shattered 
nerves  and  broken  health  wear  out  the  life  of  life. 
Or  perhaps  it  comes  in  a  sharper,  sadder  form — the 
shaft  of  death  goes  home ;  there  is  heard  the  wail 
of  danger  in  his  household ;  and  then,  when  sick- 
ness has  passed  on  to  hopelessness,  and  hopeless- 
ness has  passed  on  to  death,  the  crushed  man  goes 
into  the  chamber  of  the  dead,  and  there,  when  he 
shuts  down  the  lid  upon  the  coffin  of  his  wife  or  the 
coffin  of  his  child,  his  heart  begins  to  tell  him  the 
meaning  of  all  this.  Thorns  had  been  growing  in 
his  heart,  and  the  sharp  knife  has  been  at  work 
making  room,  but  by  an  awful  desolation,  tearing 
up  and  cutting  down,  that  the  Life  of  God  in  the 
soul  may  not  be  choked. — F.  W.  Robertson. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  197 


FINISH  THY  WOEK. 

Finish  thy  work,  the  time  is  short — 

The  sun  is  in  the  west, 
The  night  is  coming  clown — till  then, 

Think  not  of  rest. 

Yes,  finish  all  thy  work,  then  rest ; 

Till  then,  rest  never: 
The  rest  prepared  for  thee  above 

Is  rest  forever. 

Finish  thy  work,  then  wipe  thy  brow ; 

Ungird  thee  from  thy  toil ; 
Take  breath,  and  from  each  weary  limb 

Shake  off  the  soil. 

Finish  thy  work,  then  sit  thee  down 

On  some  celestial  hill. 
And  of  its  strength-reviving  air 

Take  thou  thy  fill. 

Finish  thy  work,  then  go  in  peace; 

Life's  battle  fought  and  won, 
Hear  from  the  throne  the  Master's  voice^ 

"  Well  done !  well  done  !" 

Finish  thy  work,  then  take  thy  harp, 

Give  praise  to  God  above; 
Sing  a  new  song  of  endless  joy 

And  everlastino:  love. 


198  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Give  thanks  to  Him  wlio  held  thee  up 

In  all  thy  path  below ; 
Who  made  thee  faithful  unto  death, 

And  crowns  thee  now ! — Anon. 


EVIL  EFFECTS  OF  UNBELIEF. 

Why  are  ye  so  fearful^  and  how  is  it  that  ye  have  no 
faith  ? — Mark  iv.,  40. 

The  less  faith,  still  the  more  fear.  Fear  is  gen- 
erated by  unbelief,  and  unbelief  strengthened  by  fear. 
As  in  nature  there  is  an  observable  circular  gen- 
eration, vapors  beget  showers,  and  showers  new  va- 
pors, so  it  is  in  things  moral,  and  therefore  all  the 
skill  in  the  world  can  never  cure  us  of  the  disease 
of  fear  till  God  first  cures  us  of  our  unbelief  Christ 
therefore  took  the  right  method  to  rid  his  disciples 
of  their  fear  by  rebuking  their  unbelief  The  re- 
mains of  this  sin  in  God's  own  people  are  the  cause 
and  fountain  of  their  fears. — John  Flavel. 


HAPPY  OLD  AGE. 

Nothing  so  smooths  out  wrinkles  from  the  brow 
as  a  sound  Christian  experience.  When  the  heart 
is  full  of  peace,  the  face  is  apt  to  be  full  of  smiles. 
The  countenance,  as  a  faithful  index  of  the  soul. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  199 

can  not  do  otherwise  than  manifest  the  joy  which 
reigns  within.     The  best  way  to  make  a  good  face 
is  to  cuUivate  a  good  heart.     It  is  one  of  the  com- 
pensations for  the  decay  of  nature,  that  age  can  de- 
rive a  serenity  and  lustre  from  the  radiant  spirit  of 
piety  which  renders  it  so  attractive  as  to  forbid  all 
thought  of  diminished  power  and  every  feeling  of 
repulsion.     "Every  thing  is  beautiful  in  its   time. 
If  the  glory  of  young  men  is  their  strength,  the 
beauty  of  old  men  is  the  gray  head."     "  The  gray 
head  is  a  crown  of  glory  when  it  is  found  in  the 
way  of  righteousness."     All  things  young  and  ten- 
der draw  by  their   sweetness   and  promise — inno- 
cence is  associated  with  them,  and  there  is  a  charm 
in  original  freshness  for  the  hardest  nature ;  hence, 
all  men  delight  in  young  children  and  young  ani- 
mals;  but  equally,  age  which  is  ripened  by  large 
and  healthful  experiences,  mellowed  by  happy  and 
generous  views  of  God  and  humanity,  is  an  object 
of  universal  recognition  and  pleasure.     The  happy 
old  man  is  never  envied  or  hated,  but  always  con- 
gratulated and  loved.     Having  passed  the  rivalries 
and  strifes  of  hfe,  he  usually  receives  the  full  meas- 
ure of  consideration  which  is  his  due. 

I  say  the  happy  aged  man  is  never  envied ;  yet 
truly,  if  any  man's  state  is  to  be  coveted,  it  is  his. 
"  Better  is  the  end  of  a  thing  than  the  beginning 


200  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

thereof."  A  journey  safely  ended,  a  work  well  fin- 
ished, a  battle  fought  and  the  victory  won :  surely 
to  end  a  life  with  a  good  conscience,  to  arrive  at 
advanced  years  with  a  character  unimpeached,  a 
faith  undimmed,  and  a  spirit  unbroken — this  is  a 
consummation  of  all  others  most  to  be  desired.  We 
look  at  a  child,  and  while  we  are  drawn  toward  its 
simplicity,  and  are  impressed  with  its  promise,  yet  a 
cold  shudder  creeps  over  us  as  we  think  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  evil  which  the  little  nature  compresses 
within  it.  What  an  uncertain  path  it  must  tread! 
To  how  many  dangers  it  must  be  exposed !  So 
that,  in  the  presence  of  the  joy  inspired  by  child- 
hood, there  obtrudes  the  terrible  misgiving  as  to  its 
future  and  ultimate  safety.  But  no  such  doubts 
come  when  we  look  into  the  calm  eyes  of  the  vet- 
eran Christian,  whose  habits  of  goodness  have  be- 
come so  fixed  as  to  make  his  final  salvation  almost 
if  not  wholly  a  moral  certainty.  We  would  think 
it  a  great  privilege  to  see  angels  who  have  been  in 
heaven.  Angels  are  all  about  us.  These  aged 
saints  of  God,  who,  if  they  have  not  already  been 
there,  are  quite  as  sure  to  be  as  if  their  feet  had  al- 
ready touched  the  pavements  of  gold,  and  the 
crowns  of  glory  had  already  pressed  their  victorious 
brows.  One  of  God's  best  gifts  to  his  Church  is, 
that  he  allows  such  to  linger  among  his  people  in 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  201 

every    community,    whose    names    are    household 
words,  synonyms  of  piety,  and  whose  presence  is  a 
holy  fragrance  in  the  congregation  and  in  the  home. 
.  If  there  is  a  pecuhar  satisfaction  in  contemplating 
age  purified  and  gladdened  by  piety,  there  is  an 
equally  intense  pain  in  looking  at  an  old  person 
who  is  destitute  of  the  comforts  of  religion.     It  is 
bad  enough  when  such  a  one,  however  amiable  and 
thoughtful,  is  indifferent  to  spiritual  truth  :  to  see  an 
aged  man,  whose  days  are  few,  insensible  to  its 
claims,  is  a  sad  sight ;  but  to  see  him  not  only  in- 
sensible, but  wicked  and  frivolous,  is  both  painful 
and  pitiable.     There  is  something  so  far  removed 
from  good  sense,  as  well  as  good  religion,  for  a  per- 
son under  the  weight  of  years  to  attempt  to  cheat 
himself  and  every  body  else  by  assuming,  in  the  very 
shadow  of  the  grave,  a  light  and  trifling  manner, 
that  one  scarcely  knows  how  to  restrain  contempt. 
Respect  for  gray  hairs  and  a  sorrow  which  over- 
balances all  other  feelings  alone  check  and  hold  it 
back.     How  such  hate  to  grow  old !  to  what  tricks 
do  they  resort  to  stave  off  the  approach  of  decay ! 
They  try  to  light  a  fire  on  the  outside  which  should 
be   lighted  within.     Their   experience   is,  in  many 
things,  very  pleasant,  but  it  is  not  the  experience 
which  worketh  hope  — the   Christian  hope.     The 

flowers   of  the  heart  lie  withered  in  a  dead  past, 

O 


2Q2  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

which  can  never  return :  no  buds  of  promise,  look- 
ing out  toward  the  sunlight  of  the  sky,  swell  in  their 
souls.  The  past  is  gone,  and  there  is  no  future  of 
immortal  life  to  beckon  the  heart  away.  The  eye 
catches  no  lustre  from  the  radiance  of  heaven,  the 
brightness  of  the  adorable  Lamb,  and  now  is  dim 
indeed,  both  from  infirmity  and  despondency.  While 
the  aged  believer  is  like  the  mariner  who,  as  he 
nears  the  end  of  his  voyage  to  the  Spice  Islands,  is 
already  regaled  with  the  sweet  odors  of  the  clime 
he  seeks,  the  aged  irreligious  man  is  as  one  sailing 
toward  the  frozen  seas,  with  whom  the  chilly  breath 
is  felt  long  before  the  seas  are  reached.  The  cheer- 
lessness  of  an  old  man  whose  heart  knows  nothing 
of  the  warmth  of  divine  love  and  Christian  faith  is 
indescribable.  It  is,  however,  a  grateful  thought,  that 
through  the  hard  crust  of  inveterate  habits  of  im- 
piety, grace  can  and  does  often  penetrate.  The  aged 
sinner  need  not  despair,  for  even  his  wilted  heart 
may  revive  with  all  the  freshness  of  a  spiritual  joy, 
which  is  the  foretaste  and  pledge  of  eternal  bhss. — 

H.  B.  RiDGAWAY. 

I  FIND  it  easier  to  go  six  miles  to  hear  a  sermon 
(said  Philip  Henry)  than  to  spend  one  quarter  of 
an  hour  in  meditating  and  praying  over  it  in  secret 
after  I  come  home. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  203 


"  THE  PATH  OF  THE  JUST:' 

Yes,  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  Hght, 
shining  more  and  more,  brighter  and  brighter,  unto 
the  perfect  day.  It  is  imperfect  now,  and  often 
stormy  and  cloudy ;  but  through  the  storm  and  the 
sunshine  the  path  runs  on.  The  beings  toiUng  in 
it  are  not  such  beings  in  appearance  as  you  would 
think  destined  to  thrones  of  glory ;  but  they  look 
rather  like  weather-beaten  mariners,  poor  way-worn 
pilgrims,  with  garments  worn  and  dusty ;  but  they 
are  to  be  all  presented  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing,  before  the  throne  of  God,  in  his  like- 
ness. They  are  to  be  all  kings  and  priests.  They 
are  all  to  shine  as  the  stars.  Light,  knowledge,  sanc- 
tification  in  all  things  in  the  Christian  life,  all  in  the 
progress  to  glory,  are  gradual  and  partial  now,  en- 
tire and  perfect  hereafter.  Now  we  know  in  part, 
there  shall  we  know  even  as  we  are  known ;  now 
we  see  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to 
face.  The  process  of  growth  and  sanctification  is 
going  on  now,  mainly  as  a  discipline  of  redemption 
from  sin,  deliverance  from  the  carcass  of  the  old 
man,  purification  from  indwelling  corruption ;  so 
that,  at  present,  there  is  more  positive  experience  of 
sin  and  of  the  conflict  with  it,  than  of  holiness  and 


204  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

grace  in  triumph.  Yet  the  work  is  going  on  through 
all  fluctuations ;  through  providences  afiiictive  oft- 
en, and  seemingly  adverse ;  through  temptations 
and  the  trial  of  faith  working  experience ;  and  ex- 
perience is  gradually  building  up  a  hope  that  maketh 
not  ashamed,  and  more  and  more  the  love  of  God 
is  shed  abroad,  and  all  the  affections  gathered  up  to 
lieaven. 

The  dross  may  be  continually  rising  to  the  sur- 
face now,  and  a  great  part  of  God's  very  discipline 
with  us  is  to  bring  it  out.  When  you  put  a  lump 
of  gold  into  the  crucible  there  is  no  dross  visible 
upon  it,  but  there  may  be  a  great  deal  in  it.  A  skill- 
ful goldsmith  will  tell  you  at  once,  on  exposing  it  to 
some  of  his  tests,  that  there  is  much  alloy  in  it. 
You  put  it  into  the  crucible  to  bring  out  that  alloy, 
and  the  consequence  is  that  the  dross  speedily  be- 
comes more  manifest  than  any  thing  else,  which  is 
the  consequence  of  the  very  process  of  purification  ; 
and  so  God  often  detects  and  brings  out  the  indwell- 
ing evils  of  his  jewels;  and  the  consequence  of  such 
a  discipline  for  a  season  is  just  this,  that,  to  them- 
selves, the  children  of  God  seem  to  be  nothing  but 
dross,  for  dross  and  not  pure  gold  is  the  most  mark- 
ed feature,  and  they  seem  to  be  doing  any  thing  but 
growing  in  grace.  And  yet  this  is  one  of  the  very 
processes  of  growth.     Mortification,  self-abasement, 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  205 

and  humiliation  now,  leading  to  glory  hereafter ;  a 
toilsome  and  craggy  way  now,  and  sometimes  wind- 
ing through  places  like  the  shadow  of  Death,  but 
nevertheless  rising,  and,  on  the  whole,  growing 
brighter  and  brighter  toward  the  perfect  day.  The 
dross,  indeed,  is  rising  to  the  surface  now,  but  by- 
and-by  there  shall  be  a  clean,  pure,  beautiful  reflec- 
tion of  the  image  of  the  Great  Refiner. — George 
B.  Cheever. 


CA»T  ALL  TO  XJR  CARE  UPON  CHRIST. 
''Cast  all  thy  care!'  "  Nay,"  the  rebel  heart  says, 
"  there  is  some  little  of  it  I  must  bear  myself;  some- 
thing that  has  reference  to  the  heart's  bitterness, 
that  it  alone  knoweth ;  or  to  the  heart's  deep,  dark 
sorrow,  with  which  no  stranger  intermeddles,  that  I 
must  bear  myself"  "Cast  all  thy  care  upon  me, 
for  I  care  for  thee. "  What !  distrustful  still  ?  Can 
you  not  take  God  at  his  word  ?  Hark !  he  conde- 
scends to  expostulate  with  you  upon  your  unbelief 
"  Why  sayest  thou,  O  Jacob,  and  speakest,  O  Israel, 
my  way  is  hid  from  the  Lord  ? "  How  often  have 
you  said  that  in  the  time  of  your  sorrow — ^you  know^ 
you  have — "  my  way  is  hid  from  the  Lord,  my  judg- 
ment is  passed  over  from  my  God.  Hast  thou  not 
known,  hast  thou  not  heard  that  the  everlasting  God, 


206  LIGHT  AT  EVENINa  TIME. 

the  Lord,  the  creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  faint- 
eth  not,  neither  is  weary  ?  There  is  no  searching 
of  his  understanding.  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint. 
He  does  not  merely  take  his  swoon  away  and  leave 
him  weakly,  he  makes  him  strong.  He  giveth  pow- 
er to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  he 
increaseth  strength."     Are  you  still  dissatisfied  ? 

The  God  who  knows  human  nature  knows  how 
much  better  a  teacher's  example  is  than  precept,  and 
so,  sparkling  upon  the  pages  of  his  holy  truth,  he  has 
left  us  many  bright  instances  of  his  interposition  on 
behalf  of  his  saints.  Abraham  rises  early  in  the 
morning,  goes  a  three  days'  journey  with  the  son  of 
his  love,  intending  all  the  while,  with  set  and  reso- 
lute purpose,  to  offer  him  in  sacrifice  to  the  God  of 
heaven.  Arrived  at  the  place  of  their  destination, 
all  the  ritual  preparations  are  made :  the  altar  is 
prepared ;  the  willing  victim,  unresisting,  is  bound ; 
the  sacrificial  knife  is  lifted  ;  no  escape,  then,  surely ! 
But  man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity,  and  the 
ram  is  caught  in  the  thicket  by  its  horns,  and  God's 
grace  is  sufficient — none  too  much — but  sufficient 

still.— W.  M.  PUNSIION. 


Whatever  our  trials  are,  the  strength  of  the  con- 
flict lies  between  faith  and  unbelief 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  207 


THE  OLD  MAN. 
No  desert  without  limits  extends  before  the  old 
man.  He  walks  beside  a  river  whose  banks  are 
seen  to  approach.  A  diminishing  stream  separates 
them  each  day  less  and  less ;  and  on  the  opposite 
bank  stand  wife  and  son,  with  arms  outstretched  to 
meet  him. — Madame  de  Gasparin. 


CROSS-BEARING. 

And  he^  bearing  his  cross,  went  forth. — John  xix,,  1 7. 

Learn,  then,  brethren,  that  your  heavenly  Father 
sometimes  sees  good  in  the  treatment  of  his  spirit- 
ual children,  as  here  in  the  treatment  of  the  Only- 
begotten  Son,  to  let  great  trials  and  great  weak- 
nesses meet  together ;  to  lay  on  crosses  at  those 
very  moments  when  we  appear  most  unfit  to  bear 
them ;  to  permit  wave  to  follow  wave  in  such 
quick  and  terrible  succession  that  the  eye  of  faith 
grows  dim,  and  even  the  undying  flame  of  a  Chris- 
tian's lamp  is  flickering  in  the  socket.  If  such  a 
season  ever  visits  you,  remember  there  is  One  to 
whom  even  this  case  is  no  new  case  —  One  upon 
whom  his  cross  was  laid  when  he  was  weak  even 


208  LIGHT  AT  EYEXING  TIME. 

to  faintness,  and  jet  of  whom  we  are  told  that, 
without  one  repining,  one  reproachful  word,  "he 
went  forth  bearing  his  cross."  He  can  not,  then, 
although  now  in  heaven,  ever  forget  that  hour  on 
earth,  and  never  does  he  see  a  weak  and  fainting 
sufferer,  upon  whom  fresh  trials  are  accumulating 
and  fresh  crosses  laid,  without  calling  to  mind  that 
heavy  cross  and  that  toilsome  journey  up  Mount 
Calvary,  or  without  stretching  forth  a  hand  to  help 
and  succor  him.  How  merciful  is  it  of  our  heav- 
enly Father  that  there  is  not  that  sorrow  in  life — 
that  peculiar  state  of  trial  —  that  bitterness  of  an- 
guish from  which  the  believer  can  look  upward  to 
the  throne  of  grace  without  beholding  one  beside 
that  throne  to  whom  that  sorrow,  trial,  bitterness  are 
all  experimentally  well  known ! — Henry  Blunt. 


BEFOBE  THE  CROSS. 

Sweet  the  moments,  rich  in  blessing, 
Which  before  the  cross  I  spend ; 

Life,  and  health,  and  peace  possessing, ' 
From  the  sinner's  dying  Friend. 

Here  I'll  sit,  with  transport  viewing 
Mercy's  streams,  in  streams  of  blood ; 

Precious  drops,  my  soul  bedewing. 
Plead  and  claim  my  peace  with  God. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  209 

Truly  blessed  is  the  station, 

Low  before  his  cross  to  lie, 
While  I  see  divine  compassion 

Floating  in  His  languid  eye. 

Here  it  is  I  find  my  Heaven, 

While  uj)on  the  Lamb  I  gaze. 
Love  I  much?     I've  much  forgiven; 

I'm  a  miracle  of  grace. 

Love  and  grief  my  heart  dividing, 

With  my  tears  His  feet  I'll  bathe ; 
Constant  still  in  faith  abiding, 

Life  deriving  from  His  death. 

May  I  still  enjoy  this  feeling. 

In  all  need  to  Jesus  go ; 
Prove  His  wounds  each  day  more  healing, 

And  Himself  more  fully  know. 

Thomas  Batty. 


GOB  HATH  LED  ME  ALL  THESE  YEAES. 

When  a  Christian,  towards  the  close  of  life,  looks 
back  upon  his  pilgrimage  as  a  whole  and  in  its 
parts,  the  only  way  in  which  he  can  describe  it  is 
that  suggested  by  the  words  of  Scripture,  "  God  hath 
LED  ME  all  these  years."  I  see  it  now  so  plainly : 
how  there  has  been  a  hand  over  me,  the  hand  of  a 
real  and  living  person,  giving  this,  and  withholding 


210  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

that,  both  ahke  for  good  ;  placing  me  perhaps  where 
I  would  not,  and  then  showing  me  that  it  had  been 
well ;  not  suffering  me  to  forget,  or  else  recalling 
me  to  recollection  ;  denying  me,  or  else  taking  away 
from  me  something  on  which  my  heart  was  too 
much  set,  and  then  giving  me  something  else  which, 
because  less  desired,  was  safer ;  chastening  me 
when  I  fell  away,  and  often  by  sharp  and  painful 
strokes  bringing  back  to  himself  Doubtless  heav- 
en will  be  full  of  such  remembrances  of  earthly  life, 
each  remembrance  ending  in  the  ascription  of  praise. 
And  can  not  earth  anticipate  these  recollections, 
these  ascriptions  of  praise  ?  Yes,  the  youngest  life 
has  had  some  such  experiences ;  middle  life  has 
them  in  abundance;  oh  how  we  forget  God  when 
we  are  in  prosperity !  When  life  smiles  on  us,  how 
do  we  think  scorn,  as  it  were,  of  the  pleasant  land 
beyond ;  how  do  we  provoke  God  by  our  murmur- 
ings  ;  how  do  we  dishonor  him  by  setting  our  affec- 
tion on  things  below !  .  .  .  When  he  slays  us,  we  seek 
him,  as  it  is  written ;  when  he  hides  his  face,  we 
humble  ourselves ;  when  he  delivers  us  again,  we 
sing  his  praise,  but  within  a  while  we  forget  his 
works ;  we  live  carelessly ;  we  scarcely  pray ;  we 
cleave  to  the  dust  of  this  world ;  again  the  stroke 
falls ;  again  we  repent ;  again  we  amend ;  alas ! 
again  it  is  a  short-lived  effort : — and  in  many  such 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  211 

backslidings,  and  a  few  such  returns,  life  slips  away  ; 
the  call  comes,  and  is  the  door  still  open  ? 

My  brethren,  God  is  leading  you,  offering  at  least 
to  lead  you,  all  your  life  long  ;  and  oh  the  safety,  the 
happiness — oh  the  deep  peace  of  those  who  accept 
the  offer  !     Every  morning  let  your  prayer  be.  Lord, 

LEAD  ME If  I  stray,  follow  me  into  the  desert 

and  recall  me.  If  I  faint,  carry  me  in  thy  bosom. 
When  I  walk  at  last  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  be  thou  with  me.  Let  thy  good- 
ness and  mercy  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life, 
and  then  let  me  dwell  in  thy  house  forever. — C.  J. 
Vaughan. 


THE  HOLY  SPIBIT  OUR  G TJIDE. 
The  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  our  guide.  Who  will 
displease  his  guide?  —  a  sweet,  comfortable  guide, 
that  leads  us  throuofh  the  wilderness  of  this  world. 
As  the  cloud  before  the  Israelites  by  day,  and  the 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,  so  he  conducts  us  to  the  heav- 
enly Canaan.  If  we  grieve  our  guide,  we  cause 
him  to  leave  us  to  ourselves.  The  Israelites  would 
not  go  a  step  farther  than  God  by  his  angel  went 
before  them.  It  is  in  vain  for  us  to  make  toward 
heaven  without  our  blessed  Guide ;  we  can  not  do, 
nor  speak,  nor  think  any  thing  that  is  holy  and  good 


212  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

without  him.  Whatsoever  is  holy  and  pious,  it 
grows  not  in  our  garden,  in  our  nature,  but  it  is 
planted  by  the  Spirit. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  great  and  sweet 
a  friend  that  will  do  us  so  much  good  as  the  Spirit 
if  we  give  him  entertainment.  Indeed,  he  must  rule  ; 
he  will  have  the  keys  delivered  him ;  we  must  sub- 
mit to  his  government.  And  when  he  is  in  the 
heart,  he  will  subdue  by  little  and  little  all  high 
thoughts,  rebellious  risings,  and  despairing  fears. 
This  shall  be  our  happiness  in  heaven,  when  we 
shall  be  wholly  spiritual,  that  God  shall  he  all  in 
all.  We  shall  be  perfectly  obedient  to  the  Spirit  in 
our  understandings,  wills,  and  affections.  The  Spir- 
it will  then  dwell  largely  in  us,  and  will  make  the 
room  where  he  dwelleth  sweet,  and  lightsome,  and 
free,  subduing  whatsoever  is  contrary,  and  bring  full- 
ness of  peace,  and  joy,  and  comfort. 

And,  in  the  mean  time,  in  what  condition  we  are, 
we  shall  have  suitable  help  from  the  Spirit.  We 
are  partly  flesh  and  partly  spirit.  God  is  not  all 
and  in  all ;  the  flesh  hath  a  part  in  us ;  we  are  often 
in  afflictions  and  under  clouds.  Let  us,  therefore, 
prize  our  fellowship  with  the  Spirit.  For  are  we  in 
darkness  ?  he  is  a  Spirit  of  light.  Are  we  in  dead- 
ness  of  spirit  ?  he  is  a  Spirit  of  life.  Are  we  in  a 
disconsolate  estate  ?  he  is  a  Spirit  of  consolation. 


LI  GUT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  213 

Are  we  in  perplexity,  and  know  not  what  to  do  ? 
he  is  a  Spirit  of  wisdom.  Are  we  troubled  with 
corruptions  ?  he  is  a  sanctifying,  a  subduing,  a  mor- 
tifying Spirit.  In  what  condition  soever  we  are,  he 
will  never  leave  us  till  he  has  raised  us  from  the 
grave,  and  taken  full  possession  of  body  and  soul  in 
heaven.  He  will  prove  a  comforter  when  neither 
friends,  nor  riches,  nor  any  thing  in  the  world  can 
comfort  us.  How  careful  should  we  be  to  give  con- 
tentment to  this  sweet  Spirit  of  God ! 

No  Christian  is  so  happy  as  the  watchful  Chris- 
tian— that  is,  careful  of  his  duty,  and  to  preserve  his 
communion  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  for  by  en- 
tertaining him,  he  is  sure  to  have  communion  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  It  is  the  happiest  condi- 
tion in  the  world  when  the  soul  is  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — when  the  heart  is  as  the  holy  of  ho- 
lies—  where  there  be  prayers  and  praises  offered 
to  God.  The  soul  is,  as  it  were,  a  holy  ark,  the 
memory  like  the  pot  of  manna,  preserving  heavenly 
truths.  It  is  a  heavenly  condition  ;  a  man  prospers 
to  heavenward  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  with  him. 
You  know  Obed-Edom,  when  the  ark  was  in  his 
house,  all  thrived  with  him ;  so,  while  the  Spirit  and 
his  motions  are  entertained  by  us,  we  shall  be  hap- 
py in  hfe,  happy  in  death,  happy  to  eternity. — Rich- 
ard SiBBES. 


214  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


EETROSPECT  AND  PROSPECT. 

Maturk  age  is  a  hill  from  which  one  may  look 
in  opposite  directions — backward  and  forward.  It 
is  a  kindly  arrangement  of  Providence  by  which  the 
aged  are  not  only  inclined  to  look  backward  to  ear- 
ly life,  but  the  scenes  of  childhood  and  youth  are 
made  unusually  distinct.  When  the  faculties  are  so 
much  impaired  or  clouded  that  memory  loses  the  im- 
pression of  recent  events,  the  scenes  of  early  life  are 
recalled  and  retained  with  wonderful  freshness  and 
vividness.  Persons  who  could  not  retain  in  mind 
what  they  had"  seen  or  heard  five  minutes  before, 
can  repeat  with  accuracy  whole  pages  of  hymns, 
the  odes  of  Horace,  Cowper's  poems,  which  they 
committed  to  memory  when  they  were  boys.  That 
which  is  intrusted  to  memory  in  childhood  is  hke 
the  casting  of  plaster  when  it  is  fresh  and  liquid ;  it 
sets,  and  every  line  and  edge  is  permanently  pre- 
served. If  the  young  did  but  know  it,  what  they 
are  saying,  and  thinking,  and  reading,  and  doing  is 
fresco-painting,  the  colors  striking  through  the  fresh 
mortar,  and  hardening  into  permanent  forms  by  the 
progress  of  time.  The  review  of  life  by  the  aged 
gives  a  peculiar  pleasure.  The  little  annoyances 
which  were  felt  day  by  day  in  earlier  lifq  drop  out 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  215 

of  view.  Children  have  their  own  griefs  and  trials. 
These  are  largely  forgotten  as  time  goes  on,  and 
the  pleasant  things  of  childhood  remain  like  a  bright 
picture  before  the  dim  eye  of  the  aged.  The  first 
home,  father  and  mother,  the  fireside  and  the  barn, 
the  brook  and  the  meadow,  school  and  vacation,  the, 
trees,  the  birds  and  the  animals,  the  seasons,  spring, 
summer,  autumn,  and  winter,  how  clear  and  distinct 
they  are !  It  is  as  if  they  were  all  back  again,  and 
this  to  relieve  the  burdens,  cheer  the  loneliness,  and 
comfort  the  infirmities  of  age.  How  much  of  thank- 
fulness is  diffused  through  the  heart  by  these  pleas- 
ant memories  of  early  life  !  By  means  of  them,  age 
is  often  toned  down  into  ineffable  sweetness,  so  that 
not  unfrequently  old  men  and  little  children  are  the 
closest  and  happiest  companions. 

Some  things  there  are  in  the  review  of  every  life 
which  are  to  be  regretted.  Happy  is  he  who  recalls 
but  few  of  them  associated  with  remorse.  This  is 
the  sharpness  of  that  remorse — the  acts  by  which  it 
is  excited  can  not  be  changed  or  obliterated.  The 
unkind  word,  the  undutiful  act  toward  an  affectionate 
parent !  Would  that  this  parent  were  now  alive,  to 
be  soothed  by  our  confession  and  augmented  tender- 
ness. But  now  the  wronfj  which  we  did  stands  like 
an  oak  or  a  rock,  against  which  we  brace  ourselves, 
and  strain,  only  to  become  conscious  of  our  inabil- 


216  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

ity  to  move  it  Nothing  crumbles — nothing  can  be 
removed  from  the  honest  past.  It  stands.  As  w^e 
look  at  it,  what  occasion  have  we  to  make  use  of 
the  prayer  which  inspiration  has  made  ready  for  us, 
"  Remember  not  the  sins  of  my  youth,  nor  my  trans- 
gressions ;  according  to  thy  mercy,  remember  thou 
me  for  thy  goodness'  sake,  O  Lord  !"  (Psalm  xxv.,  7.) 
So  much  of  imagination  mingles  with  all  anticipa- 
tions of  the  young  that  one  is  apt  to  be  deceived  in 
regard  to  his  probable  character  and  conduct;  the 
past  is  simple,  real  fact,  and  so  much  of  defect  and 
unworthiness  are  associated  with  it  all,  that  an  hon- 
est mind  must  feel  its  need  of  divine  forgiveness, 
resting  more  and  more  implicitly  on  the  abounding 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Threescore  years  and  ten !  In  prospect  how  re- 
mote !  in  retrospect  how  brief!  How  long  appears 
the  journey  when  setting  out !  how  short  when  it 
has  been  accomplished ! 

"  Time  in  advance  behind  him  hides  his  wings, 
And  seems  to  creep  decrepit  with  his  age. 
Behold  him  when  passed  by :  what  then  is  seen 
But  his  broad  j)inions,  swifter  than  the  wind." 

Each  day  has  two  twilights,  that  of  the  morning 
and  thct  of  the  evening.  The  latter  darkens  into 
night,  the  former  brightens  into  day.  "The  way 
of  the  wicked  is  as  darkness ;  they  know  not  at 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  217 

what  they  stumble.     But  the  path  of  the  just  is  as 
the  shining  hght,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto 
the  perfect  day."    Here  is  a  phenomenon  which  can 
be  explained  only  by  the  comforts  and  promises  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.     Cicero  wrote  a  treatise  on 
old  age  which  has  come  down  into  our  hands.     It 
contains  much— we  might  say  all  of  the  wisdom  of 
the  world.     The  utmost  which  it  pretends  to  teach 
is  how  to  grow  old,  and  be  old,  with  somewhat  of 
resignation  and  gracefulness.     The  Gospel  of  our 
Redeemer,  bringing  hfe  and  immortality  to  ho-ht 
teaches  man  how  to  advance  in  life,  and  terminate 
life  with  cheerfulness,  gladness,  and  joy.     It  contin- 
ually presents,  what  nothing  else   ever  did  or  can, 
the  sure  method  by  which  one  may  always,  even  to 
the  very  last  day  of  life,  be  confident  that  the  best 
part  of  existence  is  yet  to  come.     It  supplies  man 
with  what  is  better  than  all  memory,  even  with  an 
unfailing  object  of  hope.     Bright  and  pleasant  was 
life's  morning.     Gratitude  is  enkindled  by  recalling 
all  that  was  so  happy  in  childhood  and  youth.     But 
faith  assures  us  that  our  greatest  happiness  is  not 
receding,  but  approaching.     Thanks  for  the  way  in 
which  God  has  led  us  thus  far ;  but,  turning  to  that 
which  is  before  us,  what  is  it  ?     Gloom,  fear,  noth- 
ingness ?     Oh  no.     We  have  a  sure  word  of  the 
Lord,  which  reveals  and  promises  what  is  perma- 

P 


218  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

nent,  blessed,  and  divine.  True  life  is  before  us,  not 
behind  us.  Our  best  and  happiest  youth  is  yet  to 
come.  God  has  promised  his  adopted  children  per- 
petual rejuvenescence.  "  The  outward  man  perish- 
eth,  but  the  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day." 
How  often  is  this  realized  in  the  experience  of  Chris- 
tian believers  !  When  the  eye  has  lost  its  lustre,  and 
the  ear  its  quickness — when  the  frame  is  bowed,  and 
the  silvered  head  droops,  peace  becomes  like  a  river, 
and  joy  as  the  waves  of  the  sea.  "  They  that  w  ait 
upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength ;  they  shall 
mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles ;  they  shall  run  and 
not  be  weary ;  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint." 

Those  far  advanced  in  life  are  in  danger  of  re- 
garding themselves  as  useless  in  the  world,  because 
incapable  of  active  service  after  the  manner  of  youn- 
ger life.  Many  are  saddened  by  the  mistaken 
thought  that  they  are  cumbering  the  ground.  The 
contrary  is  true  decidedly,  emphatically,  of  the  aged 
found  in  the  way  of  righteousness.  The  simple, 
quiet,  trustful  continuance  of  such  is  a  public  bene- 
fit. The  hoary  head,  with  its  glory  of  true  Chris- 
tian faith,  is  a  testimony  in  honor  of  religion  which 
can  never  be  gainsaid  or  silenced.  At  no  time  is 
passive  goodness  so  potent.  It  is,  indeed,  light  at 
eventide.  It  is  a  proof  of  our  faith  when  one  who 
is  bereft  of  all  which  the  world  esteems,  like  a  tree 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  219 

stripped  of  its  foliage,  can  in  his  old  age  look  for- 
ward with  comfort  and  cheerfulness  to  that  better 
life  which  is  promised  by  his  divine  and  faithfid  Re- 
deemer. Talk  of  the  beauty  of  childhood  ! — it  is  of 
its  own  kind.  But  there  is  another  beauty  —  old 
age,  leaning  happily  on  Christ,  and  looking  forward, 
without  fear,  w^ithout  gloom,  without  doubt,  to  that 
glory  which  is  yet  to  be  revealed. — William 
Adams. 


THE  OCC UFA TION FOR  THE  LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 

I  HAVE  had  large  experience  of  both  joy  and  sor- 
row. I  have  seen  the  nakedness  and  the  empti- 
ness, and  I  have  seen  the  beauty  and  sweetness  of 
life.  What  I  have  to  say  now,  let  me  say  to  Jesus. 
What  time  and  strength  I  used  to  spend  in  writing, 
let  me  now  spend  in  praying  for  all  men,  for  all  suf- 
ferers, for  all  who  are  out  of  the  way,  for  all  whom 
I  love ;  and  their  name  is  legion,  for  I  love  every 
body. 

Yes,  I  love  every  body  !  That  crowning  joy  has 
come  to  me  at  last.  Christ  is  in  my  soul;  he  is 
mine ;  I  am  as  conscious  of  it  as  that  my  husband 
and  children  are  mine ;  and  his  Spirit  flows  forth 
from  mine  in  the  calm  peace  of  a  river,  whose  banks 
are  green  with  grass,  and  glad  with  flowers.     If  I 


220  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

die,  it  will  be  to  leave  a  wearied  and  worn  body, 
and  a  sinful  soul,  to  go  joyfully  to  be  with  Christ, 
to  weary  and  to  sin  no  more.  If  I  live,  I  shall  find 
much  blessed  work  to  do  for  him.  So,  living  or  dy- 
ing, I  shall  be  the  Lord's. 

But  I  wish,  oh  !  how  earnestly,  that,  whether  I  go 
or  stay,  I  could  inspire  some  lives  with  the  joy  that 
is  now  mine.  For  many  years  I  have  been  rich  in 
faith — rich  in  an  unfaltering  confidence  that  I  w^as 
beloved  of  my  God  and  Savior.  But  something 
was  wanting.  I  was  ever  groping  for  a  mysterious 
grace,  the  want  of  which  made  me  often  sorrowful 
in  the  very  midst  of  my  most  sacred  joy — imperfect 
when  I  most  longed  for  perfection.  It  Avas  that 
PERSONAL  LOVE  TO  Christ,  of  which  my  precious 
mother  so  often  spoke  to  me,  which  she  often  urged 
me  to  seek  upon  my  knees.  If  I  had  known  then, 
as  I  now  know,  what  this  priceless  treasure  could 
be  to  a  sinful  human  soul,  I  would  have  sold  all  that 
I  had  to  buy  the  field  wherein  it  lay  hidden.  But 
not  till  I  was  shut  up  to  prayer  and  to  the  study  of 
God's  Word  by  the  loss  of  earthly  joys,  sickness 
destroying  the  flavor  of  them  all,  did  I  begin  to 
penetrate  the  mystery  that  is  learned  under  the 
Cross.  And,  wondrous  as  it  is,  how  simple  is  this 
mystery !  To  love  Christ,  and  to  know  that  I  love 
him  — this  is  all!  — Mrs.  E.  Prentiss,  " iSfepp??^ 
Heavenward!' 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  221 


HAPPINESS  OF  THE  LIFE  TO  COME. 

What  are  these  things,  the  false  glare  and  shad- 
ows whereof  in  this  earth  are  pursued  with  such 
keen  and  furious  impetuosity — riches,  honors,  pleas- 
ures ?  All  these,  in  their  justest,  purest,  and  sub- 
limest  sense,  are  comprehended  in  this  blessed  life. 
It  is  a  treasure  that  can  neither  fail  nor  be  carried 
away  by  force  or  fraud.  It  is  an  inheritance  uncor- 
rupted  and  undefiled  ;  a  crown  that  fadeth  not  away ; 
a  never-failing  stream  of  joy  and  delight  It  is  a 
marriage  feast,  and,  of  all  others,  the  most  joyous 
and  most  sumptuous  ;  one  that  always  satisfies,  and 
never  cloys  the  appetite.  It  is  an  eternal  spring 
and  an  everlasting  light ;  a  day  without  an  evening. 
It  is  a  paradise,  where  the  lilies  arc  always  white 
and  in  full  bloom,  the  saffron  blooming,  the  trees 
sweat  out  their  balsams,  and  the  tree  of  life  in  the 
midst  thereof  It  is  a  city  where  the  houses  are 
built  of  living  pearls,  the  gates  of  precious  stones, 
and  the  streets  paved  with  the  purest  gold. 

Yet  all  these  are  nothing  but  veils  of  the  happi- 
ness to  be  revealed  on  that  most  blessed  day ;  nay, 
the  light  itself,  which  we  have  mentioned  among 
the  rest,  though  it  be  the  most  beautiful  ornament  in 
this  visible  world,  is  at  best  but  a  shadow  of  that 


222  LIGHT  AT  EYENIIs^G  TIME. 

heavenly  gloiy ;  and  how  small  soever  that  portion 
of  this  inaccessible  brightness  may  be,  which,  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  shines  upon  us  through  these 
veils,  it  certainly  very  well  deserves  that  we  should 
often  turn  our  eyes  toward  it,  and  view  it  with  the 
closest  attention. 

Now  the  first  thing  that  necessarily  occurs  in  the 
constitution  of  happiness  is  a  full  and  complete  de- 
liverance from  every  evil  and  every  grievance,  which 
we  may  as  certainly  expect  to  meet  with  in  that  heav- 
enly life,  as  it  is  impossible  to  be  attained  while  we 
sojourn  here  below.  All  tears  shall  be  wiped  away 
from  our  eyes,  and  every  cause  and  occasion  of 
tears  forever  removed  from  our  sight.  There  there 
are  no  tumults,  no  wars,  no  poverty,  no  death,  nor 
disease — there  there  is  neither  mourning,  nor  fear, 
nor  sin,  which  is  the  source  and  fountain  of  all  other 
evils — there  is  neither  violence  within  doors  nor 
w^ithout,  nor  any  complaint  in  the  streets  of  that 
blessed  city — there  no  friend  goes  out  nor  enemy 
comes  in. 

Full  vigor  of  body  and  mind,  health,  beauty,  pu- 
rity, and  perfect  tranquillity. 

The  most  delightful  society  of  angels,  prophets, 
apostles,  martyrs,  and  all  the  saints ;  among  whom 
there  are  no  reproaches,  contentions,  controversies, 
nor  party  spirit,  because  there  are  there  none  of  the 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  223 

sources  whence  they  can  spring,  nor  any  thing  to 
encourage  their  growth ;  for  there  is  there  particu- 
larly no  ignorance,  no  blind  self-love,  no  vainglory, 
nor  envy,  which  is  quite  excluded  from  those  divine 
regions  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  perfect  charity,  where- 
by every  one,  together  with  his  own  felicity,  enjoys 
that  of  his  neighbors,  and  is  happy  in  the  one  as 
well  as  the  other.  Hence  there  is  among  them  a 
kind  of  infinite  reflection  and  multiplication  of  hap- 
piness, like  that  of  a  spacious  hall  adorned  with  gold 
and  precious  stones,  dignified  with  a  full  assembly 
of  kings  and  potentates,  and  having  its  walls  quite 
covered  with  the  brightest  looking-glasses. 

But  what  infinitely  exceeds,  and  quite  eclipses  all 
the  rest,  is  that  boundless  ocean  of  happiness,  which 
results  from  the  beatific  vision  of  the  ever-blessed 
God,  without  which  neither  the  tranquillity  they  en- 
joy, nor  the  society  of  saints,  nor  the  possession  of 
any  particular  finite  good,  nor,  indeed,  of  all  such 
taken  together,  can  satisfy  the  soul,  or  make  it  com- 
pletely happy. — Robert  Leighton. 


Every  man  is,  what  he  once  was  and  always  will 
be,  a  condemned  sinner,  notwithstanding  any  repent- 
ance or  future  obedience,  without  an  interest  in 
Christ. — T.  Adam. 


224  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  OPENED  GATES. 

Oh  sometimes,  wlien  adown  the  sky 

The  fiery  sunset  lingers, 
Heaven's  gates  swing  inward  noiselessly, 

Unlocked  by  unseen  fingers. 

And  while  they  stand  a  moment  half  ajar, 

Gleams  from  the  inner  glory 
Stream  from  the  azure  vault  afar. 

And  half  reveal  the  story. — Anon. 


NEARER  HEA  YEN. 

Now  is  our  salvation  nearer  than  when  we  believed,- 
Romans  xiii.,  1 1 . 

One  sweetly  solemn  thought 

Comes  to  me  o'er  and  o'er — 
I'm  nearer  home  to-day 
Than  I've  ever  been  before. 

Nearer  my  Father's  house, 

Where  the  many  mansions  be; 

Nearer  the  great  white  throne, 
Nearer  the  crystal  sea. 

Nearer  the  bound  of  life. 

Where  we  lay  our  burden  down ; 

Nearer  leaving  the  cross, 
Nearer  gaining  the  crown. 


O'.'S^.  ^^.f$'~=?-^ 


AGED    85 


froTa  a  Painur.ft  ly/  Rorace-. 


S'ngrarf 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  225 

But  lying  daily  between, 

Winding  down  through  the  night, 
Is  the  deep  and  unknown  stream 

That  leads  at  last  to  the  light. 

Jesus,  perfect  my  trust, 

Strengthen  the  band  of  my  Mth ; 
Let  me  feel  Thee  near  when  I  stand 

On  the  edge  of  the  shore  of  death ; 

Feel  Thee  near  when  my  feet 

Are  slipjDiug  over  the  brink ; 
For  it  may  be  I'm  nearer  home, 

Nearer  now  than  I  think. 


WANDERING  THOUGHTS. 
To  expect  deliverance  from  those  wandering 
thoughts  which  are  occasioned  by  evil  spirits  is  to 
expect  that  the  devil  should  die  or  fall  asleep,  or 
at  least  should  no  more  go  about  as  a  roaring  lion. 
To  expect  deliverance  from  those  which  are  occa- 
sioned by  other  men  is  to  expect  either  that  men 
should  cease  from  the  earth,  or  that  we  should  be 
absolutely  secluded  from  them,  and  have  no  inter- 
course with  them ;  or  that,  having  eyes,  we  should 
not  see,  neither  hear  with  our  ears,  but  be  as  sense- 
less as  stocks  or  stones.  And  to  pray  for  deliver- 
ance from  those  which  are  occasioned  by  the  body 


226  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

is  in  effect  to  pray  that  we  may  leave  the  body. 
Otherwise  it  is  praying  for  impossibihties  and  ab- 
surdities ;  praying  that  God  would  reconcile  contra- 
dictions by  continuing  our  union  with  a  corruptible 
body  without  the  natural  necessary  consequences 
of  that  union.  It  is  as  if  we  should  pray  to  be  an- 
gels and  men,  mortal  and  immortal  at  the  same  time. 
Nay,  but  when  that  which  is  immortal  is  come,  mor- 
tality is  done  away. 

Rather  let  us  pray,  both  with  the  spirit  and  with 
the  understanding,  that  "  all  these  things  may  work 
together  for  our  good ;"  that  we  may  suffer  all  the 
infirmities  of  our  nature,  all  the  interruptions  of  men, 
all  the  assaults  and  suggestions  of  evil  spirits,  and 
in  all  be  "  more  than  conquerors."  Let  us  pray  that 
we  may  be  delivered  from  all  sin — that  both  root 
and  branch  may  be  destroyed;  that  we  may  be 
"  cleansed  from  all  pollution  of  flesh  and  spirit,"  from 
every  evil  temper,  and  word,  and  work ;  that  we 
may  "love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our  heart, 
with  all  our  mind,  with  all  our  soul,  and  with  all  our 
strength ;"  that  all  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  may  be 
found  in  us  ;  not  only  love,  joy,  peace,  but  also  "  long 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  fidelity,  meekness, 
temperance."  Pray  that  all  "  these  things  may  flour- 
ish and  abound,  may  increase  in  you  more  and  more, 
till  an  abundant  entrance  be  ministered  unto  you 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  227 

into  the   everlasting  kingdom   of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." — John  Wesley. 


CLOUDS. 

Be  cheerful  beneath  the  cloud.  And  if  the  cloud 
should  come  in  the  daytime,  still  be  cheerful.  The 
Israelites  had  the  cloud  in  the  day.  I  recollect 
once  kneeling  with  familiar  friendliness  and  love 
around  the  family  altar  of  a  dear  friend,  whom  I 
loved  as  I  believe  I  loved  no  other  on  this  earth, 
and  he  prayed  for  me  that  I  might  know  what  it 
was  to  have  the  pillar  of  cloud  when  the  day  was 
too  bright,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  when  the  night  was 
too  dark.  We  need  that  always,  do  we  not  ?  The 
pillar  of  cloud  and  pillar  of  fire  are  needed  as  much 
for  us  as  for  the  Israelites  of  old.  Did  I  mention 
to  you  what  I  thought  as  I  saw  that  picture  of  the 
German  painter  some  time  ago  ?  I  could  not  make 
out  what  he  meant  by  it.  It  was  called  "  cloud-land," 
and  it  seemed  nothing  but  cloud  on  cloud.  But 
what  do  you  think  ?  As  I  looked,  I  saw  that  every 
cloud  turned  into  an  angel  or  an  angel's  wing,  and 
the  whole  picture,  that  seemed  at  first  only  a  mass 
of  gloom,  looked  out  upon  me  with  hundreds  of  an- 
gels' eyes  and  hundreds  of  angels'  wings.  So  with 
all  clouds  ;  if  God  comes  nigh  to  us  by  them,  look  at 


^-41 


228  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

them,  and  they  turn  into  angels.  They  are  not  de- 
sirable in  themselves,  they  are  not  pleasant ;  no  chas- 
tisement, no  affliction,  no  cloud  is  at  present  joyous, 
but  grievous.  We  foolish  men  would  walk  always 
in  the  day -brightness  ;  we  do  not  want  clouds  ;  but 
the  angels  know  their  value,  and  God  too,  or  he 
would  never  send  them  to  us. — Edw.  Paxton  Hood. 


JUST  AS  I  AM. 

Him  that  cometli  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. — John 

vi.,  37- 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea 
But  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  Thou  bidd'st  me  come  to  Thee, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come ! 

Just  as  I  am,  and  waiting  not 
To  rid  my  soul  of  one  dark  blot, 
To  Thee,  whose  blood  can  cleanse  each  spot, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come ! 

Just  as  I  am,  though  tossed  about 
With  many  a  conflict,  many  a  doubt, 
Fightings  and  fears  wdthin,  without, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  ! 

Just  as  I  am,  poor,  wretched,  blind, 
Sight,  riches,  healing  of  the  mind, 
Yea,  all  I  need,  in  Thee  to  find, 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  ! 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  229 

Just  as  I  am,  Thou  wilt  receive, 
Wilt  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse,  relieve ; 
Because  Thy  promise  I  believe, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  ! 

Just  as  I  am  (Thy  love  unknown 
Has  broken  every  barrier  down), 
Now,  to  be  Thine,  yea.  Thine  alone, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come ! 

Just  as  I  am,  of  that  free  love 
The  breadth,  length,  depth,  and  height  to  prove, 
Here  for  a  season,  then  above, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come ! 

Chaelotte  Elliott. 


BLESSED  WORK  FOR  OLD  A  GE. 

....  But  oh,  it  is  not  so ;  old  age  is  a  blessed 
time,  when,  looking  back  on  the  folHes,  sins,  and 
mistakes  of  past  life,  too  late  indeed  to  remedy,  but 
not  too  late  to  repent,  we  may  "put  off  earthly  gar- 
ments one  by  one,  and  dress  ourselves  for  heaven." 
Griefs  that  are  heavy  to  the  young  are  to  the  old 
calm  and  almost  joyful,  as  tokens  of  the  near  and 
ever-nearinn^  time  when  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  any  more  pain. 

....  Even  though  walking  in  darkness  for  a 
while,  the  aged  have  the  sure  promise,  "  At  eventide 
it  shall  be  light." — Anon. 


230  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


LIKE  THE  SWIET  SHIPS. 

You  may  well  conceive  how  swiftly  the  mariner 
flies  from  a  threatening  storm,  or  seeks  the  port 
where  he  will  find  his  home.  You  have  sometimes 
seen  how  the  ship  cuts  through  the  billows,  leaving 
a  white  furrow  behind  her,  and  causinof  the  sea  to 
boil  around  her.  Such  is  life,  says  Job,  "  like  the 
swift  ships,"  when  the  sails  are  filled  by  the  wind, 
and  the  vessel  dashes  on,  dividing  a  passage  through 
the  crowded  water.  Swift  are  the  ships,  but  swifter 
far  is  life.  The  wind  of  time  bears  me  alonof.  I 
can  not  stop  its  motion.  I  may  direct  it  with  the 
rudder  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.  I  may,  it  is  true,  take 
in  some  small  sails  of  sin,  which  might  hurry  my 
days  on  faster  than  otherwise  they  w  ould  go ;  but, 
nevertheless,  like  a  swift  ship,  my  life  must  speed 
on  its  way  until  it  reaches  its  haven.  Where  is 
that  haven  to  be  ?  Shall  it  be  found  in  the  land  of 
bitterness  and  barrenness,  that  dreary  region  of  the 
lost?  Or  shall  it  be  that  sweet  haven  of  eternal 
peace,  where  not  a  troubling  wave  can  ruffle  the 
quiescent  glory  of  my  spirit?  Wherever  the  haven 
is  to  be,  that  truth  is  the  same,  we  are  "  like  the 
swift  ships." — Charles  Spurgeon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  231 


THE  BIBLE. 
A  POOR  old  woman,  being  asked  if  she  had  a  Bi- 
ble, said,  "  What  should  I  do  without  my  Bible  ?  It 
was  the  guide  of  my  youth,  and  it  is  the  staff  of  my 
age.  It  wounded  me,  and  it  healed  me ;  it  con- 
demned me,  and  it  acquitted  me.  It  showed  me  I 
was  a  sinner,  and  it  led  me  to  the  Savior ;  it  has 
given  me  comfort  through  hfe,  and  I  trust  it  will 
give  me  hope  in  death." 


C  03IF0R  T  FOE  MO  UENERS. 
"A  BRUISED  reed  will  he  not  break."  Perhaps 
the  imagery  may  be  derived  from  the  practice  of  the 
ancient  shepherds,  who  were  wont  to  amuse  them- 
selves with  the  music  of  a  pipe  of  reed  or  straw ; 
and  when  it  was  bruised,  they  broke  it,  or  threw  it 
away  as  useless.  But  the  bruised  reed  shall  not  be 
broken  by  this  divine  Shepherd  of  souls.  The  mu- 
sic of  broken  sighs  and  groans  is,  indeed,  all  that  the 
broken  reed  can  afford  him ;  the  notes  are  but  low, 
melancholy,  and  jarring,  and  yet  he  will  not  break 
the  instrument,  but  he  will  repair  and  tune  it  till  it  is 
fit  to  join  in  the  concert  of  angels  on  high ;  and 
even  now  its  humble  strains  are  pleasing  to  his  ears. 
— Samuel  Davies. 


232  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  LESSONS  OF  SORROW. 
There  are  many  things  which  nothing  but  sor- 
row can  teach  us.  Sorrow  is  the  great  teacher. 
Sorrow  is  the  reaHzer.  It  is  a  strange  and  touch- 
ing thing  to  hear  the  young  speak  truths  which  are 
not  yet  within  the  hmits  of  their  experience  ;  to  list- 
en while  they  say  that  hfe  is  sorrowful,  that  friends 
are  treacherous,  that  there  is  quiet  in  the  grave. 
When  we  are  boys  we  adopt  the  phrases  that  we 
hear.  In  a  kind  of  prodigal  excess  of  happiness, 
we  say  that  the  world  is  a  dream,  and  life  a  noth- 
ing ;  that  eternity  lasts  forever,  and  that  all  here  is 
disappointment.  But  there  comes  a  day  of  sharp- 
ness, when  we  find,  to  our  surprise,  that  what  we 
said  had  a  meaning  in  it,  and  we  are  startled.  That 
is  the  sentimentalism  of  youth  passing  into  reality. 
In  the  lips  of  the  young,  such  phrases  are  only  sen- 
timentalities. What  we  mean  by  sentimentalism  is 
that  state  in  which  a  man  speaks  things  deep  and 
true,  not  because  he  feels  them  strongly,  but  because 
he  perceives  that  they  are  beautiful,  and  that  it  is 
touching  and  fine  to  say  them — things  which  he  fain 
WOULD  feel,  and  fancies  he  does  feel.  Therefore, 
when  all  is  well,  when  friends  abound,  and  health  is 
strong,  and  the  comforts  of  life  are  around  us,  re- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  233 

ligion  becomes  faint  and  shadowy.  Religious  phra- 
seology passes  into  cant ;  the  gay,  and  light,  and 
trifling  use  the  same  words  as  the  holiest,  till  the 
earnest  man,  who  feels  what  the  world  is  senti- 
mentalizing about,  shuts  up  his  heart,  and  either 
coins  other  phrases  or  else  keeps  silence.  And  then 
it  is  that,  if  God  would  rescue  a  man  from  that  un- 
real world  of  names  and  mere  knowledge,  he  does 
what  he  did  with  Job — he  strips  him  of  his  flocks, 
and  his  herds,  and  his  wealth ;  or  else,  what  is  the 
equivalent,  of  the  power  of  enjoying  them.  The  de- 
sire of  his  eyes  falls  from  him  at  a  stroke.  Things 
become  real  then.  Trials  bring  man  face  to  face 
with  God.  God  and  he  touch,  and  the  flimsy  veil 
of  bright  cloud  that  hung  between  him  and  the  sky 
is  blown  away.  He  feels  that  he  is  standing  outside 
the  earth,  with  nothing  between  him  and  the  Eter- 
nal Infinite.  Oh  !  there  is  something  in  the  sick-bed, 
and  the  aching  heart,  and  the  restlessness  and  the 
languor  of  shattered  health,  and  the  sorrow  of  affec- 
tions withered,  and  the  stream  of  life  poisoned  at  its 
fountain,  and  the  cold,  lonely  feeling  of  utter  raw- 
ness of  the  heart  which  is  felt  when  God  strikes 
home  in  earnest,  that  forces  a  man  to  feel  what  is 
real  and  what  is  not. 

This  is  the  blessing  of  affliction  to  those  who  will 
lie  still,  and  not  struggle  in  a  cowardly  or  a  resent- 

Q 


234  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

ful  war.  It  is  God  speaking  to  Job  out  of  the  whirl- 
wind, and  saying,  "  In  the  sunshine  and  the  warmth 
you  can  not  meet  me ;  but  in  the  hurricane  and  the 
darkness,  when  wave  after  wave  has  swept  down 
and  across  the  soul,  you  shall  see  my  form,  and 
hear  my  voice,  and  know  that  your  Redeemer  liv- 
eth." — F.  W.  Robertson. 


''NOT  A  FORGETUL  HEABERP 

An  old  Scotch  woman  was  sprinkling  water  upon 
some  linen  stretched  upon  the  grass  by  the  road- 
side for  bleaching.  Her  minister  chanced  to  pass 
by  at  the  time,  and,  stopping,  he  inquired  if  she  had 
been  to  church  on  the  last  Sabbath.  She  said  she 
had.  But,  upon  being  asked  for  the  text  and  sub- 
ject of  discourse,  she  could  remember  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other.  "What  good,  then,"  asked  the 
minister,  "  docs  it  do  you  to  go  to  church  and  hear 
the  Gospel  if  you  so  soon  forget  the  text  and  every 
word  of  the  sermon  ?"  Pausing  a  moment,  the  old 
woman,  looking  up,  replied,  "  The  water  which  I 
sprinkle  on  this  linen  is  quickly  dried  up,  and  not 
one  drop  of  it  is  left,  yet  the  linen  grows  whiter  and 
whiter ;  and  if  I  can  not  remember  cither  the  text 
or  the  sermon,  I  hope  that  I  grow  better  and  bet- 
ter."— Anon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  235 


HARDENING  THE  HEART. 

On  a  winter  evening,  when  the  frost  is  setting  in 
with  growing  intensity,  and  when  the  sun  is  now  far 
past  the  meridian,  and  gradually  sinking  in  the  west- 
ern sky,  there  is  a  double  reason  why  the  ground 
grows  every  moment  harder  and  more  impenetrable 
to  the  plow.  On  the  one  hand,  the  frost  of  even- 
ing, with  ever-increasing  intensity,  is  indurating  the 
stiffening  clods.  On  the  other  hand,  the  genial  rays, 
which  alone  can  soften  them,  are  every  moment 
withdrawing  and  losing  their  enlivening  power. 
Take  heed  that  it  be  not  so  with  you.  As  long  as 
you  are  unconverted,  you  are  under  a  double  pro- 
cess of  hardening.  The  frosts  of  an  eternal  night 
are  settling  down  upon  your  souls,  and  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  with  westering  wheel,  is  hastening 
to  set  upon  you  evermore.  If,  then,  the  plow  of 
grace  can  not  force  its  way  into  your  icebound 
heart  to-day,  what  likehhood  is  there  that  it  will  en- 
ter to-morrow  ? — R.  M.  McCheyne. 


'Tis  little  troubles  that  wear  the  heart  out.  It  is 
easier  to  throw  a  bomb-shell  a  mile  than  a  feather 
— let  us  seek,  then,  especial  grace  to  bear  them. 


236  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


BE  MERCIFUL  TO  3IE,  A  SINNER. 

Wheis-  at  Thy  footstool,  Lord,  I  bend. 
And  plead  with  Thee  for  mercy  there. 

Think  of  the  sinner's  dying  friend, 
And  for  His  sake  receive  my  prayer. 

Oh  think  not  of  my  shame  and  guilt. 
My  thousand  stains  of  deepest  dye ; 

Think  of  the  blood  which  Jesus  spilt, 
And  let  that  blood  my  pardon  bu3^ 

Think,  Lord,  how  I  am  still  Thy  own. 
The  trembling  creature  of  Thy  hand ; 

Think  how  my  heart  to  sin  is  prone, 
And  what  temptations  round  me  stand. 

Oh  think  upon  Thy  holy  Word, 
And  every  plighted  promise  there ; 

How  prayer  should  evermore  be  heard, 
And  how  Thy  glory  is  to  spare. 

Oh  think  not  of  my  doubts  and  fears. 
My  strivings  with  Thy  grace  divine ; 

Think  upon  Jesus'  woes  and  tears, 
And  let  His  merits  stand  for  mine. 

Thine  eye.  Thine  ear,  they  are  not  dull; 

Thine  arm  can  never  shortened  be ; 
Behold  me  here ;  my  heart  is  full ; 

Behold,  and  spare,  and  succor  me ! — H.  F.  Lyte. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  237 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  PRAISE. 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ;  and  all  that  is  with- 
in me,  bless  his  holy  name."  Wake  up,  my  memory, 
and  find  matter  for  the  song.  Tell  what  God  has 
done  for  me  in  days  gone  by.  Fly  back,  ye  thoughts, 
to  my  childhood ;  sing  of  cradle-mercies.  Review^ 
my  youth  and  its  early  favors.  Sing  of  long-suffer- 
ing grace  which  followed  my  wanderings,  and  bore 
with  my  rebellions.  Review  before  my  eyes  that 
gladsome  hour  when  first  I  knew  the  Lord,  and  tell 
over  again  the  matchless  story  of  his  mercy.  Awake 
up,  my  judgment,  and  give  measure  to  the  music. 
Come  forth,  my  understanding,  and  weigh  his  lov- 
ing-kindness in  the  balance.  See  if  thou  canst 
count  the  small  dust  of  his  mercies.  See  if  thou 
canst  estimate  the  unsearchable  riches  which  God 
hath  given  thee  in  his  unspeakable  gift  of  Christ 
Jesus.  Recount  his  eternal  love  to  thee.  Reckon 
up  the  treasures  of  that  everlasting  covenant  which 
he  made  on  thy  behalf,  and  which  was  "  ordered  in 
all  things  and  sure."  Sing  aloud  of  that  divine  wis- 
dom which  contrived,  of  that  love  which  planned, 
and  of  that  grace  which  carried  out  the  scheme  of 
thy  redemption.  "Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul!" 
For  doth  not  all  nature  around  me  praise  him  ?     If 


238  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

I  were  silent  I  should  be  an  exception  to  the  uni- 
verse. Doth  not  the  thunder  praise  him  as  it  rolls 
like  drums  in  the  march  of  the  God  of  Armies  ? 
Do  not  the  mountains  praise  him  when  the  woods 
upon  their  summits  wave  in  adoration  ?  Does  not 
the  lightning  write  his  name  in  letters  of  fire  upon 
the  midnight  darkness  ?  Hath  not  the  whole  earth 
a  voice,  and  shall  I,  can  I  be  silent  ?  "  Bless  the 
Lord,  O  my  soul." — Charles  Spurgeon. 


LOSS  AND  GAIN. 

Dr.  Payson,  in  his  dying  hours,  said  he  could  have 
saved  himself  much  trouble  in  life  if  he  had  only 
believed  that  the  Savior's  presence  was  enough  to 
fill  him  with  joy  if  all  worldly  comforts  were  taken 
away.  He  found  it  so  in  sickness,  but  could  not 
quite  believe  it  in  health.  A  poor  simple  man,  with 
none  of  Payson's  imagination  or  fancy,  once  said,  in 
a  similar  spirit,  w  ith  his  dying  words,  "  I  have  lost 
all  my  property ;  I  have  lost  all  my  relations ;  my 
last  son  is  dead;  I  have  lost  my  hearing  and  my 
eyesight ;  I  am  all  alone,  old  and  poor  ;  but  it  makes 
no  difference :  Christ  never  grows  old ;  Christ  nev- 
er is  poor ;  Christ  never  dies  ;  and  Christ  never  will 
forsake  me." 


LIGET  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


239 


OXJE  PILGRIMAGE. 
We  are  passing  toward  final  rest.    Do  not  regret 
it  if  the  eyes  grow  dim.    You  will  see  better  by-and- 
by.     If  the  ear  is  growing  heavy,  do  not  be  sorry. 
If  your  youth  is  passing,  and  your  beauty  fading, 
do  not  mourn.     If  your  hand  trembles,  and  your 
foot  is  unsteady  with  age,  be  not  depressed  in  spirit. 
With  every  impediment,  with  every  sign  of  the  tak- 
ing down  of  this  tabernacle,  remember  that  it  is  the 
striking  of  the  tent  that  the  march  may  begin,  and 
when  next  you  pitch  your  tabernacle  it  shall  be  on 
an  undisturbed  shore,  and  that  there,  with  eyes  un- 
wet  with  tears,  through  an  atmosphere  undimmed 
by  clouds,  and  before  a  God  unveiled,  and  never  to 
be  wrapped  in  darkness  any  more— that  there,  look- 
ing back  upon  this  world  of  ignorance,  and  suffer- 
ing, and  trouble,  and  upon  the  hardships  of  the  way, 
you  will,  with  full  and  discerning  reason,  hft  up  your 
voice,  and  give  thanks  to  God  and  say,  "  There  was 
not  one  trouble  too  much ;  there  was  not  one  sor- 
row too  piercing."    And  you  will  thank  God  in  that 
land  for  the  very  things  that  wring  tears  from  your 
eyes  in  this.     Look,  then,  to  that  better  land,  out  of 
all  the  trouble  of  the  way— sigh  for  it,  pray  for  it, 
prepare  for  it,  and  enter  into  it. — Anon. 


2i0  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


DANGER  OF  BACKSLIDING  IN  OLD  AGE. 

Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  Christians  were 
more  apt  to  backsHde  and  fall  into  open  sin  in  the 
latter  part  of  their  religious  course  than  in  its  earlier 
stages  ?  It  is  a  startling  announcement,  but  I  think 
you  will  find  it  true.  Look  at  all  the  cases  of  back- 
sliding recorded  in  the  Bible.  Did  they  not,  every 
one  of  them,  occur  late  in  life  ?  There  was  David. 
In  the  days  of  his  youth  and  early  manhood,  a  pat- 
tern of  faith  and  devotion.  In  advanced  life  guilty 
of  murder  and  adultery,  and  still  later  of  pride  and 
self-conceit  in  numbering  the  people.  Look  at  Mo- 
ses. The  great  sin  of  his  hfe  committed  when  just 
about  to  enter  the  promised  land.  Look  at  Heze- 
kiah — the  "  good  king  Hezekiah."  In  his  early  days 
zealous  and  devout.  The  last  fifteen  years  of  his 
life  (a  special  gift  from  his  God,  and  therefore,  one 
would  think,  to  be  specially  consecrated  to  him) 
bringing  "wrath  upon  himself  and  upon  Jerusalem." 
So,  too,  with  Josiah  and  with  Solomon.  Alas  !  "  the 
strongest  are  weak  and  the  wisest  are  fools  when 
left  to  be  sifted  in  Satan's  sieve."  It  becometh  the 
old  as  well  as  the  young  to  watch  and  pray  lest  they 
enter  into  temptation. — Anon. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  241 


MY  GRACE  IS  SUFFICIENT  FOB  THEE. 

YouK  harps,  ye  trembling  saints, 
Down  from  the  willows  take ; 

Loud  to  the  praise  of  love  divine 
Bid  every  string  awake. 

Though  in  a  foreign  land, 

We  are  not  far  from  home. 
And  nearer  to  our  house  above 

We  every  moment  come. 

His  grace  will  to  the  end 

Stronger  and  brighter  shine, 
Nor  present  things,  nor  things  to  come, 

Shall  quench  the  spark  divine. 

When  we  in  darkness  walk, 

Nor  feel  the  heavenly  flame. 
Then  is  the  time  to  trust  our  God, 

And  rest  upon  His  name. 

Soon  shall  our  doubts  and  fears 

Subside  at  His  control ; 
His  loving  kindness  shall  break  through 

The  midnight  of  the  soul. 

Bless'd  is  the  man,  O  God, 

That  stays  himself  on  Thee  ! 
Who  waits  for  Thy  salvation,  Lord, 

Shall  Thy  salvation  see. — Topladt. 


242  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  GREAT  PHYSICIAN. 

Let  us  look  at  the  bright  side  of  hfe,  and  beheve 
that  God  means  us  to  be  always  ascending  —  al- 
ways getting  nearer  to  himself — always  learning 
something  new  about  him — always  loving  him  bet- 
ter and  better.  To  be  sure,  our  souls  are  sick,  and 
of  themselves  can't  keep  "ever  on  the  wing;"  but  I 
have  had  some  delightful  thoughts  of  late  from  just 
hearing  the  title  of  a  book,  ''Gods  Method  with  the 
Maladies  of  a  SouU  It  gives  one  such  a  concep- 
tion of  the  seeming  ills  of  life  to  think  of  him  as 
our  Physician,  the  ills  all  remedies,  the  deprivations 
only  a  wholesome  regimen,  the  losses  all  gains. 
When,  as  I  study  this  individual  case  and  that,  I  see 
how  patiently  and  persistently  he  tries  now  this  rem- 
edy, now  that,  and  how  infallibly  he  cures  the  souls 
that  submit  to  his  remedies,  I  love  him  so ! — I  love 
him  so !  And  I  am  so  astonished  that  we  are  rest- 
ive under  his  unerrino-  hand  !  Think  how  he  dealt 
with  me.  My  soul  was  sick  unto  death — sick  with 
worldliness,  and  self-pleasing,  and  folly.  There  was 
only  one  way  of  making  me  listen  to  reason,  and 
that  was  just  the  way  he  took.  He  snatched  me 
right  out  of  the  world,  and  shut  me  up  in  one  room, 
crippled,  helpless,  and  alone,  and  set  me  to  thinking, 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  243 

thinking,  thinking,  until  I  saw  the  emptiness  and 
shallowness  of  all  in  which  I  had  hitherto  been  in- 
volved. And  then  I  was  shown  the  realities  of  life, 
and  he  was  revealed  to  me  as  my  invisible,  unknown 
Physician.  Can  I  love  him  with  half  my  heart  ? 
Can  I  be  asking  questions  as  to  how  much  I  am  to 
pay  toward  the  debt  I  owe  him  ?  —  Mrs.  E.  Pren- 
tiss, 'Stepping  Heavenward!' 


THE  PRIESTHO  OD  OF  HOL  Y  SONG. 
Never  should  it  be  forgotten  that,  among  the  roy- 
alties and  beatitudes  of  that  world  of  light  and  hfe, 
evermore  the  voice  of  holy  psalm  and  glad  hosanna 
thrills  the  happy  spirits  of  its  redeemed  and  rejoic- 
ing multitudes  with  an  ecstasy  of  bliss  altogether 
unknown  to  the  denizens  of  this  shadowy,  sin-smit- 
ten world  of  ours.  Would  we,  then,  aspire  to  the 
true  nobility  of  Christian  life,  while  we  cherish 
chiefly  the  rich  treasury  of  divine  truth  enshrined 
in  the  sacred  oracles,  let  us  not  hold  in  small  es- 
teem their  spiritual  teachings,  conveyed  to  us  by 
these  beautiful  translations  into  song : 

"  God  sent  His  singers  upon  eartli 
Witli  song  of  sadness  and  of  mirtli, 
That  tliey  might  touch  the  hearts  of  men, 
And  bring  them  back  to  heaven  again." 


244  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Then  even  as  a  wayside  sacrament  will  these  per- 
suasive measures  prove  to  us  along  our  pilgrim 
path,  brightening  and  beautifying  our  dark  and 
shady  places,  and,  as  by  a  divine  alchemy,  trans- 
muting our  bitterest  sorrows  into  serenest  joys. 
Let  memory  be  but  true  to  her  trust,  and  among 
the  choicest  of  her  spoils  as  a  celestial  benison  will 
be  the  precious  legacy  thus  bequeathed  to  us  by  the 
gifted  and  the  good — the  priesthood  of  holy  song. 
Like  some  saintly  evangel  will  these  sweet  lyrics 
ofttimes  prove  their  potency  by  urging  our  dull 
souls,  full  panoplied  for  the  warfare  —  with  sandal 
shoon  and  pilgrim  staff — onward  and  upward  in  the 
divine  life,  till,  leaving  the  discordant  accompani- 
ments of  earth  all  forgotten,  we  attain  to  where 

"No  groans  shall  mingle  with  the  songs 
Which  warble  from  immortal  tongues." 

Frederick  Saunders. 


FAITH 

Faith  is  the  eye  by  which  we  look  to  Jesus. 
A  dim-sighted  eye  is  still  an  eye ;  a  weeping  eye  is 
still  an  eye. 

Faith  is  the  hand  with  which  we  lay  hold  of 
Jesus.  A  trembling  hand  is  still  a  hand,  and  he  is 
a  believer  whose  heart  within  him  trembles  when 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  245 

he  touches  the  hem  of  the  Savior's  garment  that  he 
may  be  healed. 

Faith  is  the  tongue  by  which  we  taste  how 
GOOD  THE  Lord  is.  A  feverish  tongue  is  neverthe- 
less a  tongue.  And  even  then  we  may  believe,  when 
we  are  without  the  smallest  portion  of  comfort ;  for 
our  faith  is  founded,  not  upon  feelings,  but  upon  the 
promises  of  God. 

Faith  is  the  foot  by  which  we  go  to  Jesus.  A 
lame  foot  is  still  a  foot.  He  who  comes  slowly, 
nevertheless  comes. — H.  Muller. 


JEIIO  YAH  JIREH. 
Abraham  did  not  find  the  provision  of  God  as 
soon  as  he  left  his  house,  or  halfway  on  his  journey, 
or  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  or  as  soon  as  the  altar  was 
built,  but  just  as    soon    as  he  was   about  to  take 
away  Isaac's  life.     At  this  crisis  the  voice  of  the 
angel  was  heard,  the  hand  was  arrested,  and  the  ram 
se^n  awaiting  him  in  the  thicket.     This  shows  that 
God  provides  for  us  in  wisdom  according  to  our  ne- 
cessities   and    circumstances.     We   have    not  the 
things    of  heaven   on   earth,  but  when   our   souls, 
through  grace,  ascend  to  the  mount  of  God,  the  glo- 
ry will  be  provided  for  us.     We  have  not  dying 
grace  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  health,  but  when  we 


246  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

come  to  death,  if  we  now  live  to  him,  dying  grace 
will  be  awaiting  us.  We  have  not  the  grace  of  be- 
reavement when  we  are  rejoicing  in  the  midst  of 
unbroken  circles ;  but  when  the  enemy  makes  a 
breach,  we  shall  find,  as  our  day,  our  strength  will 
be.  God  works  upon  this  principle  in  nature  as 
well  as  in  grace.  The  harvest  does  not  come  in 
spring ;  then  the  husbandman  has  something  else  to 
do ;  he  has  to  prepare  for  the  harvest.  When  all 
the  preparatory  work  is  done,  then  harvest  comes, 
as  provided  by  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God. — 
John  Bate. 


ARISE,  SHINE,  FOE  THY  LIGHT  IS  COME. 

We  are  pilgrims  to  a  dwelling-place  of  blessed- 
ness, and  the  light  that  streams  through  its  open 
portals  ought  to  suffice  us  as  we  approach  them. 
An  anticipated  beatitude,  a  sanctity  that  even  now 
breathes  of  Paradise,  a  grace  which  is  already  tinged 
with  the  richer  lines  of  glory — these  should  mark 
the  Christian  disciple,  and  these,  as  he  advances  in 
years,  should  brighten  and  deepen  upon  and  around 
him,  until  this  distinction  of  earth  and  heaven  is  al- 
most lost,  and  the  spirit,  in  its  placid  and  unearthly 
repose,  is  gone,  as  it  were,  before  the  body,  and  at 
rest  already  with  its  God.     A  being  already  invest- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  247 

ed  with  a  deathless  hfe,  already  adopted  into  the  im- 
mediate family  of  God,  already  enrolled  in  the  broth- 
erhood of  angels,  yea,  of  the  Lord  of  angels  ;  a  be- 
ing who,  amid  the  revolutions  of  earth  and  skies, 
feels  and  knows  himself  indestructible,  capacitated 
to  outlast  the  universe,  a  sharer  in  the  immortality 
of  God — what  is  there  that  can  be  said  of  such  a 
one  which  falls  not  below  the  awful  glory  of  his 
position  ?  Oh,  misery,  that  with  such  a  calling, 
man  should  be  the  groveling  thing  he  is !  that, 
summoned  but  to  pause  for  a  while  in  the  vestibule 
of  the  eternal  Temple  ere  he  be  introduced  into  its 
sanctuaries,  he  should  forget,  in  the  dreams  of  his 
lethargy,  the  eternity  that  awaits  him.  Oh,  wretch- 
edness beyond  words,  that,  surrounded  by  love,  and 
invited  to  glory,  he  should  have  no  heart  for  happi- 
ness, but  should  still  cower  in  the  dark,  while  light 
ineffable  solicits  him  to  behold  and  to  enjoy  it! — W. 
Archer  Butler. 


When  Egypt's  king  God's  cliosen  tribe  pursued, 
In  crystal  walls  the  admiring  waters  stood ; 
AVhen  through  the  desert  wild  they  took  their  way, 
The  rocks  relented  and  poured  forth  a  sea, 
What  limit  can  almighty  goodness  know, 
When  seas  can  harden,  and  when  rocks  can  flow. 

Alexander  Pope. 


24S  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


SABBATH  HYMN  FOE  A  SICK- CHAMBER, 

Thousands,  O  Lord  of  Hosts !  this  day 

Around  Thy  altar  meet, 
And  tens  of  thousands  throng  to  pay 

Their  homage  at  Thy  feet. 

They  see  Thy  power  and  glory  there, 

As  I  have  seen  them  too ; 
They  read,  they  hear,  they  join  in  prayer, 

As  I  was  wont  to  do. 

They  sing  Thy  deeds,  as  I  have  sung, 

In  sweet  and  solemn  lays; 
Were  I  among  them,  my  glad  tongue 

Might  learn  new  themes  of  praise. 

For  Thou  art  in  their  midst  to  teach 
When  on  Thy  name  they  call ; 

And  Thou  hast  blessings.  Lord,  for  each — = 
Hast  blessings.  Lord,  for  all. 

I,  of  such  fellowship  bereft. 

In  spirit  turn  to  Thee; 
Oh  !  hast  Thou  not  a  blessing  left — 

A  blessing,  Lord,  for  me  ? 

The  dew  lies  thick  on  all  the  ground ; 

Shall  my  jioor  fleece  be  dry  ? 
The  manna  rains  from  heaven  around; 

Shall  I  of  hunger  die  ? 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  249 

Behold  Thy  prisoner ;  loose  my  bands, 

If  'tis  Thy  gracious  will ; 
If  not,  contented  in  Thy  hands, 

Behold  Thy  prisoner  still. 

I  may  not  to  Thy  house  repair. 

Yet  here  Thou  surely  art ; 
Lord,  consecrate  a  house  of  prayer 

In  my  surrendered  heart. 

To  faith  reveal  the  things  unseen, 

To  hope  the  joys  unfold ; 
Let  love,  without  a  veil  between, 

Thy  glory  now  behold. 

O  make  Thy  face  on  me  to  shine. 
That  doubt  and  fear  may  cease ; 
Lift  up  Thy  countenance  benign 
On  me,  and  give  me  peace. 


THINK  OF  THIS. 

Whatever  of  our  frailties  and  infirmities  may  be 
remembered  by  our  surviving  friends  when  the  green 
sod  is  growing  over  us,  let  it  not  be  said  that  we  had 
within  us  unkind  and  churlish  hearts.  We  are  borne 
with ;  let  us  bear  with  others  ;  not  forgetting  the  in- 
junction of  the  apostle  Peter,  "  Be  pitiful,  be  courte- 
ous ;"  nor  that  of  Paul,  "  Be  kindly  affectioned  one 

to  another." — George  MoGRmGE. 

E. 


250  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


I  AM. 

When  the  Lord  speaketh  of  himself  with  regard 
to  his  people,  he  saith  I  am.  He  doth  not  say  I  am 
their  light,  their  life,  their  guide,  their  tower,  or  their 
strength,  but  only  I  AM.  He  sets  his  hand  as  it 
were  to  a  blank,  that  his  people  might  write  under 
it  what  they  please  that  is  for  their  good.  As  if  he 
should  say,  Are  they  weak  ?  I  am  strength.  Are 
they  sick  ?  I  am  health.  Are  they  in  trouble  ?  I 
am  comfort.  Are  they  poor  ?  I  am  riches.  Are 
they  dying  ?  I  am  life.  Have  they  nothing  ?  I 
am  all  things.  I  am  justice  and  mercy ;  I  am  grace 
and  goodness  ;  I  am  glory,  beauty,  hohness,  eminen- 
cy,  supremacy,  perfection,  all  -  sufficiency,  eternity, 
Jehovah — I  am  whatsoever  is  suitable  to  their  na- 
ture, or  convenient  for  them  in  their  several  condi- 
tions. I  am  whatsoever  is  amiable  in  itself  or  de- 
sirable to  their  souls.  Whatsoever  is  pure  or  holy, 
whatsoever  is  great  and  pleasant,  whatsoever  is 
good  and  needful  to  make  them  happy,  that  I  am. 
So  that,  in  short,  God  here  represents  himself  unto 
us  as  one  universal  good,  and  leaves  us  to  make  the 
application  to  ourselves,  according  to  our  several 
wants,  capacities,  and  desires,  by  saying  only  in 
general  I  AM. — William  Beveridge. 


LIGHT  AT  EVESING  TIME.  251 


MEMORY  OF  KINDNESS. 

Among  the  Alps,  when  the  day  is  done,  and  twi- 
light and  darkness  are  creeping  over  fold  and  ham- 
let in  the  valleys  below,  Mont  Rosa  and  Mont  Blanc 
rise  up  far  above  the  darkness,  catching  from  the 
retreating  sun  something  of  his  light,  flushed  with 
rose-color,  exquisite  beyond  all  words,  or  pencil,  or 
paint,  glowing  like  the  gate  of  heaven. 

And  so  past  favors  and  kindnesses  Uft  themselves 
up  in  the  memory  of  noble  natures,  and  long  after  the 
lower  parts  of  Ufe  are  darkened  by  neglect,  or  selfish- 
ness, or  anger,  former  loves,  high  up  above  all  clouds, 
glow  with  divine  radiance,  and  seem  to  forbid  the 
advance  of  night  any  further.— H.  W.  Beecher. 


LOOKING  TO  JESUS. 
In  every  enjoyment,  O  Christian,  look  unto  Je- 
sus ;  receive  it  as  proceeding  from  his  love,  and  pur- 
chased by  his  agonies.  In  every  tribulation  look 
unto  Jesus ;  mark  his  gracious  hand  managing  the 
scourge,  or  minghng  the  bitter  cup ;  attempering  it 
to  a  proper  degree  of  severity ;  adjusting  the  time 
of  its  continuance,  and  ready  to  make  these  seem- 
ing disasters  productive  of  real  good.     In  every  in- 


i252  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

firmity  and  failing  look  unto  Jesus,  thy  merciful 
High-priest,  pleading  his  atoning  blood,  and  making 
intercession  for  transgressors.  In  every  prayer 
look  unto  Jesus,  thy  prevailing  Advocate,  recom- 
mending thy  devotions,  and  "bearing  the  iniquity 
of  thy  holy  things."  In  every  temptation  look  unto 
Jesus,  the  Author  of  thy  strength  and  Captain  of 
thy  salvation,  who  alone  is  able  to  lift  up  the  hands 
which  hang  down,  to  invigorate  the  enfeebled  knees, 
and  make  thee  more  than  conqueror  over  all  thy 
enemies.  But  especially  when  the  hour  of  thy  de- 
parture approaches,  and  when  thy  flesh  and  thy 
heart  fail,  when  all  the  springs  of  life  are  irreparably 
breaking,  then  look  unto  Jesus  with  a  believing  eye. 
Like  expiring  Stephen,  behold  him  standing  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  on  purpose  to  succor  his  people 
in  this  their  last  extremity. 

Yes,  my  Christian  friend,  when  thy  journey 
through  life  is  finished,  and  thou  art  arrived  on  the 
very  verge  of  mortality  ;  when  thou  art  just  launch- 
ing out  into  the  invisible  world,  and  all  before  thee 
is  vast  eternity,  then,  oh  then  look  unto  Jesus.  See 
by  faith  the  Lord's  Christ.  View  him  as  the  only 
"  Way"  to  the  everlasting  mansions ;  as  the  only 
"  Door"  to  the  abodes  of  bliss. — J.  Hervey. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  253 


LIGHT  AT  EVENTIDE. 

At  evening  time  let  there  be  light : 
Life's  little  day  draws  near  its  close ; 

Around  me  fall  the  shades  of  night, 
The  night  of  death,  the  grave's  repose : 
To  crown  my  joys,  to  end  my  woes, 

At  evening  time  let  there  be  light. 

At  evening  time  let  there  be  light : 
Stormy  and  dark  hath  been  my  day ; 

Yet  rose  the  morn  divinely  bright, 

Dews,  birds,  and  blossoms  cheered  the  way ; 
Oh  for  one  sweet,  one  parting  ray ! 

At  evening  time  let  there  be  light. 

At  evening  time  there  8liaTl  be  light. 
For  God  hath  sjooken — it  must  be ; 

Fear,  doubt,  and  anguish  take  their  flight— 
His  glory  now  is  risen  on  me. 
Mine  eyes  shall  His  salvation  see. 

Tis  evening  time,  and  there  ^s  light. 


I  WILL  FEAR  NO  EVIL. 
The  Lord  my  pasture  shall  prepare, 
And  feed  me  with  a  shepherd's  care ; 
His  presence  shall  my  wants  supply, 
And  guard  me  with  a  watchful  eye ; 


254  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

My  noon-day  walks  He  shall  attend, 
And  all  my  midnight  hours  defend. 

When  in  the  sultry  glebe  I  faint, 
Or  on  the  thirsty  mountain  pant, 
To  fertile  vales  and  dewy  meads 
My  weary,  wandering  steps  He  leads, 
Where  peaceful  rivers,  soft  and  slow. 
Amid  the  verdant  landscape  flow. 

Though  in  the  paths  of  death  I  tread, 
With  gloomy  horrors  overspread, 
My  steadfast  heart  shall  fear  no  ill, 
For  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  with  me  still ; 
Thy  friendly  crook  shall  give  me  aid, 
And  guide  me  through  the  dreadful  shade. 

Though  in  a  bare  and  rugged  way, 
Through  devious  lonely  wilds  I  stray. 
Thy  bounty  shall  my  wants  beguile ; 
The  barren  wilderness  shall  smile, 
With  sudden  greens  and  herbage  crowned. 
And  streams  shall  murmur  all  around. 

Joseph  Addisok. 


To  pass  through  life  without  sorrow  would,  nat- 
urally speaking,  be  good ;  but  patiently  to  bear  sor- 
row and  profit  by  it  is  still  better ;  the  former  is  a 
temporary  good,  the  latter  eternal. 


LIGET  AT  EVENING  TIME.  255 


PRAYER  AND  TEMPTATION. 
Prayer  is  an  action  of  likeness  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  spirit  of  gentleness  and  dove-like  simplicity;  an 
imitation  of  the  holy  Jesus,  whose  spirit  is  meek,  up 
to  the  greatness  of  the  biggest  example  ;  and  a  con- 
formity to  God,  whose    anger  is    always  just,  and 
marches  slowly,  and  is  without  transportation,  and 
often  hindered,  and  never  hasty,  and  is  full  of  mercy : 
prayer  is  the  peace  of  our  spirit,  the  stillness  of  our 
thoughts,  the  evenness  of  recollection,  the  seat  of 
meditation,  the  rest  of  our  cares,  and  the  calm  of 
our  tempest;  prayer  is  the  issue  of  a  quiet  mind,  of 
untroubled  thoughts ;  it  is  the  daughter  of  charity, 
and  the  sister  of  meekness ;   and  he  that  prays  to 
God  with  an  angry— that  is,  with  a  troubled  and  dis- 
composed spirit,  is  like  him  that  retires  into  a  battle 
to  meditate,  and  sets  up  his  closet  in  the  old  quar- 
ters of  an  army,  and  chooses  a  frontier  garrison  to 
be  wise  in.     Anger  is  a  perfect  alienation  of  the 
mind  from  prayer,  and  therefore  is  contrary  to  that 
attention  which  presents  our  prayers  in  a  right  hue 
of  God.     For  so  have  I  seen  a  lark  rising  from  his 
bed  of  grass,  and  soaring  upward,  singing  as  he 
rises,  and  hopes  to  get  to  heaven,  and  chmb  above 
the  clouds ;  but  the  poor  bird  was  beaten  back  with 


256  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

the  loud  sighings  of  an  eastern  wind,  and  his  motion 
was  made  irregular  and  inconstant,  descending  more 
at  every  breath  of  the  tempest  than  it  could  recover 
by  the  libration  and  frequent  weighing  of  his  wings, 
till  the  little  creature  was  forced  to  sit  down  and 
pant,  and  stay  till  the  storm  was  over ;  and  then  it 
made  a  prosperous  flight,  and  did  rise  and  sing  as 
if  it  had  learned  music  and  motion  from  an  angel  as 
he  passed  sometimes  through  the  air  about  his  min- 
istries here  below.  So  is  the  prayer  of  a  good  man 
when  his  affairs  have  required  business,  and  his  bus- 
iness was  matter  of  discipline,  and  his  discipline 
was  to  pass  upon  a  sinning  person,  or  had  a  design 
of  charity,  his  duties  met  with  the  infirmities  of  a 
man,  and  anger  was  its  instrument,  and  the  instru- 
ment became  stronger  than  the  prime  agent,  and 
raised  a  tempest,  and  overruled  the  man ;  and  then 
his  prayer  was  broken,  and  his  thoughts  were  troub- 
led, and  his  words  went  up  toward  a  cloud,  and  his 
thoughts  pulled  them  back  again,  and  made  them 
without  intention ;  and  the  good  man  sighs  for  his 
infirmity,  but  must  be  content  to  lose  the  prayer, 
and  he  must  recover  it  when  his  anger  is  removed, 
and  his  spirit  is  becalmed,  made  even  as  the  brow 
of  Jesus,  and  smooth  like  the  heart  of  God ;  and 
then  it  ascends  to  heaven  upon  the  wings  of  the 
holy  dove,  and  dwells  with  God,  till  it  returns,  like 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  257 

the  useful  bee,  laden  with  a  blessing  and  the  dew 
of  heaven. — Jeremy  Taylor. 


REVIEW  OF  LIFE. 

0  Thou  who,  without  respect  of  persons,  judgest 
according  to  every  man's  work,  have  mercy  upon 
me,  and  blot  out  of  the  book  of  thy  remembrance 
the  manifold  transgressions  of  my  life.  It  becom- 
eth  me,  O  Lord,  to  take  a  review  of  the  course  in 
which  I  have  walked ;  but  oh,  what  a  review  it  is ! 
How  many  talents  unimproved,  and  duties  left  un- 
done, and  sins  committed  does  it  discover ! 

1  stand  before  thee  inexcusable  —  self-condemn- 
ed ;  but,  blessed  be  thy  name  !  not  without  hope,  for 
there  is  mercy  and  forgiveness  with  thee.  Thou 
hast  provided  a  sacrifice  for  sins.  Thou  hast  re- 
vealed a  Savior  who  made  reconciliation  for  ini- 
quity. To  him  would  I  fly  for  refuge,  humbly  be- 
seeching him  to  order  our  cause  before  the  throne 
of  the  Most  High,  that  mercy  may  proceed  from 
thence  instead  of  judgment,  and  that  my  soul  may 
sing  of  abounding  grace. 

And  ever,  ever  may  the  remembrance  of  my  sins 
and  of  thy  mercy  abide  with  us.  Recollecting  that 
thou  hast  spared  one  whom  thou  couldst  have  de- 
stroyed, let  the  remainder  of  my  life  be  considered 


258  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

as  a  grant  of  mercy  made  to  me  in  order  that  I  may  * 
bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repentance.  Give  me 
grace,  therefore,  O  Lord,  not  only  to  repent  of  past 
sins  and  omissions,  but  to  make  it  much  of  the  busi- 
ness of  my  remaining  days  to  supply  the  deficien- 
cies of  my  former  ones.  May  I  endeavor,  in  full 
dependence  on  thy  grace,  to  be  more  faithful  in  all 
my  duties.  May  I  be  careful  to  render  unto  all  their 
dues ;  and,  above  all,  let  me  remember  what  is  due 
to  thee,  O  blessed  God,  from  whom  I  receive  all  my 
blessings,  temporal,  spiritual,  and  eternal. 

O  Thou  who  hast  been  pleased,  notwithstanding 
all  my  sins,  hitherto  to  preserve  me,  vouchsafe  me 
thy  help  during  the  remainder  of  my  earthly  course. 
May  thy  gracious  presence  direct  and  support  me. 
Should  any  false  light  appear,  suffer  me  not  to  fol- 
low it.  Should  the  enemy  come  in  like  a  flood,  en- 
able me  to  lift  up  a  standard  against  him.  Thus,  O 
Lord,  be  thou  my  light  and  my  strength.  I  know 
not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth,  nor  need  I  be  de- 
sirous of  knowing ;  let  it  be  enough  for  me  that, 
without  thy  permission,  not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the 
ground.  Enable  me  to  cast  all  my  care  on  thee. 
Bless  to  me  both  my  enjoyments  and  my  sufferings. 
Let  my  soul  derive  benefit  by  every  thing  that  hap- 
pens to  me.  Whether  my  days  be  calm  or  stormy, 
bright  or  dark,  make  me  to  increase  in  faith,  in  holi- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME  259 

ness,  in  humility,  patience,  and  charity,  that  I  may 
be  rich  toward  God,  whatever  I  be  in  other  respects. 
O  Lord,  hear  this  my  prayer,  for  the  sake  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Redeemer.     Amen. — James  Bean. 


PR  A  YEB  A  GAINST  THE  FEAR  OF  DEA  TIL 

>  O  MOST  gracious  and  merciful  Father,  give  me 
grace  to  be  always  ready  to  obey  thy  summons,  and 
willing  to  depart  this  life  when  thou  callest.  For- 
give me  all  my  sins,  which  are  the  sting  of  death, 
that  I  may  prepare  to  meet  it  as  a  harmless  thing 
that  can  not  hurt  me — as  a  release  from  those  weak- 
nesses and  sorrows  which  render  my  life  a  burden 
to  me.  Keep  me  from  being  all  my  days  in  bond- 
age to  the  fear  of  death.  Let  not  my  spirit  be 
broken  with  dreadful  apprehensions  of  dying  under 
the  frown  of  thy  displeasure ;  but  make  me  to  re- 
member thy  infinite  mercies,  the  inexhaustible  treas- 
ures of  thy  goodness  and  clemency,  so  that  the  con- 
sideration thereof  may  fortify  my  mind  against  the 
horrors  of  a  dying  hour.  Strengthen  me  with  a 
comfortable  hope  in  thee,  a  steadfast  faith  in  thy 
Son's  atoning  blood,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrec- 
tion. He  has  changed  death  into  a  sleep,  and  has 
promised  to  make  the  risen  bodies  of  behevers  hke 
unto  his  own  glorified  body.     Enable  me  to  exclaim 


260  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

with  the  triumphant  apostle,  "O  death,  where  is  thy 
sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  Thanks  be 
to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory,  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  Let  me,  therefore,  no  longer  be 
afraid  of  that  which,  through  thy  mercy,  will  be  a 
happy  passage  into  thy  kingdom — the  gate  of  ever- 
lasting bliss  and  glory.  This  I  beg,  through  the 
merits  of  him  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life. 
Amen. 


CONSOLING  IBEA  OE  DEATH. 
"I  CONGRATULATE  you  and  myself,"  wrote  John 
Foster  to  a  friend,  "  that  life  is  passing  fast  away. 
What  a  superlatively  grand  and  consoling  idea  is 
that  of  Death  !  Without  this  radiant  idea,  this  de- 
lightful morning-star,  indicating  that  the  luminary 
of  eternity  is  going  to  rise,  life  would,  to  my  view, 
darken  into  midnight  melancholy.  Oh  !  the  expec- 
tation of  living  here,  and  living  thus  always,  would 
be  indeed  a  prospect  of  overwhelming  despair.  But 
thanks  to  that  fatal  decree  that  dooms  us  to  die — 
thanks  to  that  Gospel  which  opens  the  vision  of  an 
endless  life;  and  thanks,  above  all,  to  that  Savior- 
friend  who  has  promised  to  conduct  all  the  faithful 
through  the  sacred  trance  of  death  into  scenes  of 
paradise  and  everlasting  delight." 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  261 


THE  MAN  CHRIST  JESUS. 
Payson  once  wrote  to  a  friend  thus :  "  A  man  now 
fills  the  throne  of  heaven.  And  who  is  this  man  ? 
Mark  it  well ;  it  is  a  man  who  is  not  ashamed  to 
call  you  'brother.'  You  may  not  now  know  what 
he  is  doing  with  you,  but  you  shall  know  hereafter ; 
you  shall  see  the  reason  of  all  the  trials  and  tempta- 
tions, the  dark  and  comfortless  hours,  the  long  and 
tedious  conflicts,  and  you  will  be  convinced  that  not 
a  sigh,  not  a  single  uneasy  thought  was  allotted  to 
you  without  a  wise  and  gracious  design." — Anon. 


THE  HAPPY  OLD  MAN. 
One  stormy  winter  day,  the  Rev,  Mr.  Young,  of 
Jedburg,  was  visiting  one  of  his  people,  an  old  man, 
who  lived  in  great  poverty  in  a  lonely  cottage.  He 
found  him  sitting  with  the  Bible  open  on  his  knees, 
but  in  outward  circumstances  of  great  discomfort — 
the  snow  drifting  through  the  roof,  and  under  the 
door,  and  scarce  any  fire  on  the  hearth.  "What 
are  you  about  to-day,  John?"  was  his  question  on 
entering.  'Ah!  sir,"  said  the  happy  saint,  "/'m 
sitting  under  his  shadow  with  great  delight !" — 
Anon. 


262  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


ATTAINING  HAPPINESS. 
It  is  not  so  much  by  the  symmetry  of  what  we 
attain  in  this  hfe  that  we  are  to  be  made  happy,  as 
by  the  enhvening  hope  of  what  we  shall  reach  in 
the  world  to  come.  While  a  man  is  stringing  a 
harp,  he  tries  the  strings,  not  for  music,  but  for  con- 
struction. When  it  is  finished  it  shall  be  played  for 
melodies.  God  is  fashioning  the  human  heart  for 
future  joy.  He  only  sounds  a  string  here  and  there 
to  see  how  far  his  work  has  progressed. — H.  W. 
Beecher. 


NEARER  TO  THEE. 

Neaeer,  my  God,  to  Tliee, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! 
E'en  though  it  be  a  cross 

That  raiseth  me ; 
Still  all  my  song  shall  be, 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! 

Though  like  the  wanderer, 
The  sun  gone  down. 

Darkness  be  over  me, 
My  rest  a  stone ; 

Yet  in  my  dreams  I'd  be 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  263 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
Nearer  to  Thee ! 

There  let  the  way  appear 

Steps  unto  Heaven ; 
All  that  Thou  send'st  to  me 

In  mercy  given ; 
Angels  to  beckon  me 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! 

Then  with  my  waking  thoughts 

Bright  with  Thy  praise. 
Out  of  my  stony  griefs 

Bethel  I'll  raise ; 
So  by  my  woes  to  be 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! 

Or  if  on  joyful  wing 

Cleaving  the  sky. 
Sun,  moon,  and  stars  forgot. 

Upward  I  fly. 
Still  all  my  song  shall  be, 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! — Saeah  Flower  Adams. 


Autumn  hath  violets  as  well  as  spring. 
And  age  its  sweetness  hath  as  well  as  youth. 

Maey  Maynard. 


264  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


A  PRAYER  FOR  L  ONGER  LIFE. 

O  spare  me,  that  I  may  recover  strength  before  I  go 
hence,  and  be  no  more. — Psalm  xxxix.,  13. 

Why  is  it  that  we  do  not  extremely  hate  that 
which  we  so  desperately  love — sin  ?  For  the  de- 
formity of  itself  is  unspeakable  ;  and,  besides,  it  is 
the  cause  of  all  our  woes.  Sin  hath  opened  the 
sluices,  and  let  in  the  deluge  of  sorrows,  which 
makes  the  life  of  poor  man  nothing  else  but  vanity 
and  misery,  so  that  the  meanest  orator  in  the  world 
may  be  eloquent  enough  on  that  subject.  What  is 
our  life  but  a  continual  succession  of  many  deaths  ? 
Though  we  should  say  nothing  of  all  the  bitterness 
and  vexations  that  are  hatched  under  the  sweetest 
pleasures  in  the  world,  this  one  thing  is  enough — 
the  multitude  of  diseases  and  pains,  the  variety  of 
distempers  that  those  houses  we  are  lodged  in  are 
exposed  to.  Poor  creatures  are  ofttimes  tossed  be- 
tween two — the  fear  of  death  and  the  tediousness 
of  life,  and  under  these  fears  they  can  not  tell  which 
to  choose.  Holy  men  are  not  exempted  from  some 
apprehensions  of  God's  displeasure  because  of  their 
sins,  and  that  may  make  them  cry  out  with  David, 
"  O  spare  me,  that  I  may  recover  strength  before  I 
go  hence,  and  be  no  more."     Or  perhaps  this  may 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  265 

be  a  desire,  not  so  much  simply  for  the  prolonging 
of  life  as  for  the  intermitting  of  his  pain,  to  have 
ease  from  the  present  smart.  The  extreme  tor- 
ment of  some  sickness  may  draw  the  most  fixed 
and  confident  spirits  to  cry  out  very  earnestly  for  a 
little  breathing.  Or,  rather,  if  the  words  imply  a  de- 
sire of  recovery,  and  the  spinning  out  of  the  thread 
of  his  life  a  little  longer,  surely  he  intended  to  em- 
ploy it  for  God  and  his  service.  But  long  life  was 
suitable  to  the  promises  of  that  time.  There  is  no 
doubt  those  holy  men,  under  the  law,  knew  some- 
what of  the  state  of  immortality ;  their  calling  them- 
selves "strangers  on  the  earth"  argued  that  they 
were  no  strangers  to  these  thoughts.  But  it  can 
not  be  denied  that  the  doctrine  was  but  darkly  laid 
out  in  those  times.  It  is  Christ  Jesus  who  hath 
"  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light,"  who  did  il- 
luminate life  and  immortality,  which  before  stood  in 
the  dark. 

Surely  the  desire  of  life  is,  for  the  most  part,  sen- 
sual and  base,  when  men  desire  that  they  may  still 
enjoy  their  animal  pleasures,  and  are  loth  to  be 
parted  from  them.  They  are  pleased  to  term  it  a 
desire  to  live  and  repent,  and  yet  few  do  it  when 
they  are  spared;  like  evil  debtors  who  desire  for- 
bearance from  one  term  to  another,  but  with  no  de- 
sign at  all  to  pay.     But  there  is  a  natural  desire  of 

S 


266  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

life,  something  of  abhorrence  in  nature  against  the 
dissolution  of  these  tabernacles.  We  are  loth  to  go 
forth,  like  children  who  are  afraid  to  walk  in  the 
dark,  not  knowing  what  may  be  there.  In  some, 
such  a  desire  of  life  may  be  very  reasonable ;  being 
surprised  by  sickness,  and  apprehensions  of  death 
and  sin  unpardoned,  they  may  desire  a  little  time 
before  they  enter  into  eternity.  For  that  change  is 
not  a  thing  to  be  hazarded  upon  for  a  few  days  or 
hours'  preparation.  I  will  not  say  that  a  death-bed 
repentance  is  altogether  desperate,  but  certainly  it 
is  very  dangerous  and  to  be  suspected,  and  there- 
fore the  desire  of  a  little  time  longer,  in  such  a  case, 
may  be  very  allowable.  I  will  not  deny  but  it  is 
possible  even  for  a  believer  to  be  taken  in  such  a 
posture  that  it  may  be  very  uncomfortable  to  him 
to  be  carried  off  so,  through  the  affrightments  of 
death  and  his  darkness  as  to  his  after-state.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  an  argument  of  a  good  meas- 
ure of  spirituality  and  height  of  love  to  God  to  de- 
sire to  depart  and  be  dissolved  in  the  midst  of 
health  and  the  affluence  of  worldly  comforts.  But 
for  men  to  desire  and  wish  to  be  dead  when  they 
are  troubled  and  vexed  with  any  thing  is  but  a  child- 
ish folly,  flowing  from  a  discontented  mind,  which 
being  over,  they  desire  nothing  less  than  to  die.  It 
is  true,  there  may  be  a  natural  desire  of  death,  which 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  267 

at  some  time  hath  shined  in  the  spirits  of  some  nat- 
ural men ;  and  there  is  much  reason  for  it,  not  only 
to  be  freed  from  the  evils  and  troubles  of  this  life, 
but  even  from  those  things  which  many  of  this  fool- 
ish world  account  their  happiness — sensual  pleas- 
ures, to  eat,  and  drink,  and  to  be  hungry  again,  and 
still  to  round  that  same  course,  which,  to  souls  that 
are  raised  above  sensual  things,  is  burdensome  and 
grievous. 

But  there  is  a  spiritual  desire  of  death,  which  is 
very  becoming  a  Christian.  For  Jesus  Christ  hath 
not  only  opened  very  clearly  the  doctrine  of  life, 
but  he  himself  hath  passed  through  death,  and  lain 
down  in  the  grave  ;  he  hath  perfumed  that  passage, 
and  warmed  that  bed  for  us,  so  that  it  is  sweet  and 
amiable  for  a  Christian  to  pass  through  and  follow 
him,  and  to  be  where  he  is.  It  is  a  strange  thing 
that  the  souls  of  Christians  have  not  a  continual  de- 
sire to  go  to  that  company  which  is  above,  finding 
so  much  discord  and  disagreement  among  the  best 
of  men  that  are  here — to  go  to  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  where  there  is  light,  and  love, 
and  nothing  else — to  go  to  the  company  of  angels, 
a  higher  rank  of  blessed  spirits ;  but,  most  of  all,  to 
go  to  God,  and  to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  New 
Testament.  And,  to  say  nothing  positively  of  that 
glory  (for,  the  truth  is,  we  can  say  nothing  of  it),  the 


268  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

very  evils  that  death  deUvers  the  true  Christian  from 
may  make  him  long  for  it ;  for  such  a  one  may  say, 
"I  shall  die  and  go  to  a  more  excellent  country, 
where  I  shall  be  happy  forever  —  that  is,  I  shall 
die  no  more,  I  shall  sorrow  no  more,  and  shall  be 
tempted  no  more ;  and,  which  is  chiefest  of  all,  I 
shall  sin  no  more." — Robert  Leighton. 


A  PBAYER  ON  PREPARATION  FOR  DEATH. 
Lord,  what  is  our  life  but  a  vapor,  that  appears 
for  a  little  time  and  then  vanisheth  away !  Even 
at  the  longest,  how  short !  and  at  the  strongest,  how 
frail !  and  when  we  think  ourselves  most  secure,  yet 
we  know  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth,  nor  how 
soon  thou  mayest  come  to  call  us  to  our  last  ac- 
count. Quickly  shall  we  be  as  water  spilt  on  the 
ground,  that  can  not  be  gathered  up  again ;  quickly 
snatched  away  from  hence,  and  our  place  here  shall 
know  us  no  more  forever.  Our  days,  one  after  an- 
other, are  spent  apace ;  and  we  know  not  how  near 
to  us  is  our  last  day,  when  our  bodies  shall  be  laid 
in  the  grave,  and  our  souls  be  called  to  appear  at 
the  tribunal  of  God,  to  receive  their  eternal  doom. 
Yet  how  have  I  lived  in  this  world,  as  if  I  should 
never  leave  it ;  how  unmindful  of  my  latter  end ! 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  269 

how  improvident  of  my  time !  how  careless  of  my 
soul !  how  negligent  in  my  preparation  for  my  ever- 
lasting condition !  so  that  thou  mayest  justly  bring 
my  last  hour  as  a  snare  upon  me,  to  surprise  me  in 
my  sins,  and  to  cut  me  off  in  my  iniquities.  But,  O 
Father  of  mercies,  remember  not  my  sins  against 
me ;  but  remember  thy  own  tender  mercies  and  thy 
loving  kindnesses,  which  have  been  ever  of  old.  O 
remember  how  short  my  time  is,  and  spare  me,  that 
I  may  recover  strength  before  I  go  hence  and  be 
no  more  seen.  Make  me  so  wise  as  to  consider 
my  latter  end,  and  teach  me  so  to  number  my  days 
that  I  may  apply  my  heart  to  true  wisdom.  Lord, 
what  have  I  to  do  in  this  world  but  to  make  ready 
for  the  world  to  come !  O  that  I  may  be  mindful 
of  it,  and  be  careful  to  finish  my  work  before  I  fin- 
ish my  course ! 

In  the  days  of  my  health  and  prosperity,  oh  that  I 
may  remember  and  provide  for  the  time  of  trouble, 
and  sickness,  and  death,  when  the  world's  enjoy- 
ments will  shrink  away  from  me,  and  prove  utterly 
unable  to  support  and  comfort  me.  Let  me  never 
allow  myself  in  any  course  of  living  wherein  I  would 
be  loth  or  afraid  to  die ;  but  let  me  see  my  corrup- 
tions mortified  and  subdued,  that  they  may  never 
rise  up  in  judgment  against  me.  Enable  me  so  to 
die  unto  sin  daily  that  I  may  not  die  for  sin  eternally. 


270  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Instruct  me,  good  Lord,  and  assist  me  in  my  prep- 
aration for  a  dying  hour,  that  I  may  not  then  be 
fully  surprised,  but  may  meet  it  with  comfort  and 
composure.  Quicken  me  to  a  serious  concern 
about  that  great  work,  and  help  me  to  perform  it 
acceptably  and  with  good  success.  Oh  that  I  may 
be  fitted  for  heaven  ere  I  leave  this  world,  and  may 
have  peace  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  before 
I  depart  hence  into  that  state  in  which  I  must  abide 
forever.  O  my  Lord,  make  me  so  ready  to  meet 
thee  at  thy  coming  that  thine  appearance  may  be 
the  matter  of  my  hopes,  and  desires,  and  joyful  ex- 
pectations ;  that  I  may  look  and  long  for  that  bless- 
ed time  when  thou  wilt  put  an  everlasting  period  to 
all  my  troubles  and  temptations,  and  exchange  my 
present  state  of  infii'mity  and  sin  for  a  state  of  end- 
less happiness  and  glory.  O  thou  who  art  my  hfe 
and  my  strength,  help  me  so  to  live  as,  at  the  hour 
of  death,  I  shall  wish  I  had  lived ;  and  so  to  make 
ready  for  death  all  my  days  that,  at  my  last  day,  I 
may  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  die,  and  cheerfully  to 
resign  my  spirit  into  thy  gracious  hands.  O  my 
Father,  hear  and  answer  my  humble  petitions,  and 
let  me  find  a  merciful  admission  to  thy  favor  and 
thy  kingdom,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ.;  Amen. 
— B.  Jenks. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  271 


A  PEAYEE  FOE  ONE  IN  AFFLICTION 

"  I  KNOW,  Lord,  that  thy  judgments  are  right,  and 
that  thou  of  very  faithfulness  hast  caused  me  to  be 
troubled"  (Psalm  cxix.,  75) ;  for  "  before  I  was  af- 
flicted I  went  astray,  but  now  have  I  kept  thy  word" 
(Psalm  cxix.,  6).  Blessed  be  thy  goodness  for  af- 
flicting me. 

I  humbly  beg  of  thee,  O  merciful  Father,  that  this 
affliction  may  strengthen  my  faith,  which  thou  saw- 
est  was  growing  weak;  fix  my  hope,  which  was 
staggering ;  quicken  my  devotion,  which  was  lan- 
guishing ;  rekindle  my  charity,  which  was  cooling ; 
revive  my  zeal,  which  was  dying ;  confirm  my  obe- 
dience, which  was  wavering ;  recover  my  patience, 
which  was  fainting;  mortify  my  pride,  which  was 
presuming ;  and  perfect  my  repentance,  which  was 
daily  decaying ;  for  all  these  and  the  like  infirmities 
to  which  my  soul  is  exposed,  O  make  thy  affliction 
my  cure ! 

Grant,  O  my  God,  that  this  affliction  thou  hast  in 
mercy  laid  on  me  may  wean  all  my  affections  from 
the  world,  which  I  was  apt  to  grow  too  fond  of; 
rescue  me  from  those  occasions  of  evil  of  which  I 
was  in  danger;  secure  me  from  those  temptations 
which  were  ready  to  assault  me ;  restrain  me  from 


272  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

those  sins  to  which  my  nature  was  strongly  incUned ; 
preserve  me  from  all  those  abuses  of  health  I  am 
apt  to  incur ;  and  purify  my  soul  from  all  that  dross, 
and  from  all  those  vicious  propensions  which  either 
my  impenitence  has  left  behind,  or  which  I  have 
since  contracted. 

O  my  God,  let  thy  affliction  produce  my  amend- 
ment, and  all  the  happy  effects  in  me  which  it  is 
wont  to  do  in  thy  children,  and  which  thou  in  mercy 
dost  design  it  should,  and  then  continue  thy  afflic- 
tion if  it  seem  good  in  thy  sight ;  behold.  Lord,  hap- 
py is  the  man  whom  thou  has  corrected  (Job  v.,  7). 

What  is  best  for  me,  O  my  God,  I  know  not ;  my 
flesh  desires  deliverance  from  this  distemper,  and  if 
it  be  thy  pleasure,  O  Lord,  deliver  me ;  my  spirit  de- 
sires that  thou  only  wouldst  choose  for  me,  because 
thou  art  my  Father,  and  out  of  thy  fatherly  tender- 
ness wilt  be  sure  to  choose  what  is  best  for  me.  I 
resign  my  own  will  entirely  to  thine.  Let  me  be 
enabled  to  say,  after  my  gracious  Savior's  example, 
"  Father,  if  thou  be  w^illing,  remove  this  cup  from 
me ;  nevertheless,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done." 

Hear,  Lord,  and  have  compassion  on  me,  for  the 
merits  and  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  perfect 
resignation  may  I  always  imitate.  Amen. — Thom- 
as Ken. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  -273 


A  PRAYER  FOR  THE  USE  OF  AN  AGED  PERSON: 
O  Lord  of  my  life,  thou  hast  been  my  God  from 
my  bu'th,  my  hope  and  trust  from  my  youth.  By 
thee  was  I  brought  into  the  world,  and  upon  thee 
have  I  hved  all  my  days.  With  what  patience  and 
long  -  suffering  hast  thou  endured  me!  and  with 
what  lovinof  kindness  and  tender  mercies  hast  thou 
still  followed  and  preserved  me !  How  many  have 
I  seen  snatched  out  of  this  life,  and,  as  I  fear,  mis- 
erably unprepared  for  their  death  ;  whereas  thou 
prolongest  my  days,  and  still  addest  new  mercies  to 
my  life.  Oh  that  the  lengthening  of  my  days  may 
be  a  real  benefit,  so  that  the  whole  work  which  the 
Lord  has  given  me  to  do  may  be  finished.  May  I 
redeem  the  time,  and  improve  all  means  and  oppor- 
tunities to  the  everlasting  advantage  of  my  soul 
May  my  graces  be  as  ripe  as  my  years,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  my  life  be  the  best  part  of  it.  Though 
my  sight  is  dim,  let  me  not  be  blind  to  the  things  be- 
longing to  my  peace.  Though  my  ears  are  dull  of 
hearing,  let  my  heart  be  attentive  to  thy  word,  and 
let  me  hear  thy  voice  while  it  is  called  "  to-day." 
Though  I  can  not,  as  formerly,  relish  the  pleasures 
of  meat  and  drink,  yet  let  me  still  taste  the  grace  of 
the  Lord,  and  savor  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 


274  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

And  though  my  limbs  are  weak,  and  my  strength 
will  not  serve  me  to  travel  abroad  as  I  have  done, 
yet  make  me  strong  in  the  Lord  to  do  thy  work,  to 
walk  in  thy  ways,  and  to  pursue  my  journey  home- 
ward to  my  house  not  made  with  mortal  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  Oh  let  not  the  length  of  my 
life  tempt  me  to  forget  that  it  must  soon  end,  but  let 
me  keep  my  last  day  ever  in  near  prospect.  May 
I  order  all  my  concerns  not  only  like  a  stranger  and 
sojourner,  but  as  a  dying  man  preparing  and  wait- 
ing for  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  Oh  that  at  thy 
coming  thou  mayest  find  me  watching.  And  be- 
cause I  am  old  in  sins  as  well  as  in  years,  O  my 
gracious  Lord,  give  me  that  repentance  which  need- 
eth  not  to  be  repented  of  Thou  hast  saved  many 
old  sinners ;  be  merciful  to  me  in  spite  of  my  num- 
berless provocations.  Put  all  my  sins  to  the  ac- 
count of  thy  dear  Son  my  Redeemer,  and  wash  them 
all  away  in  the  fountain  of  his  blood.  Especially, 
O  merciful  Lord,  pardon  those  sins  which  make  the 
thoughts  of  death  and  judgment  most  painful  to  me. 
O  give  me  some  evidence  that  I  have  found  mercy 
at  thy  hands,  through  the  all-sufficient  merits  of  my 
only  Savior,  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. — B.  Jenks. 


Temptations  are  instructions. 


LIGET  AT  EVENING  TIME.  275 


ALL  ONE  IN  CHRIST. 

Come,  let  us  join  our  friends  above, 

That  have  obtained  the  prize, 
And  on  the  eagle  wings  of  love 

To  joy  celestial  rise. 
Let  all  the  saints  terrestrial  sing 

With  those  to  glory  gone, 
For  all  the  servants  of  our  King, 

In  earth  and  heaven,  are  one. 

One  family,  we  dwell  in  Him, 

One  Church,  above,  beneath, 
Thouo-h  now  divided  by  the  stream. 

The  narrow  stream  of  death. 
One  army  of  the  living  God, 

To  His  command  we  bow ; 
Part  of  His  host  hath  crossed  the  flood, 

And  part  is  crossing  now. 

Ten  thousand  to  their  endless  home 

This  solemn  moment  fly ; 
And  we  are  to  the  margin  come, 

And  we  expect  to  die ; 
His  militant  embodied  host, 

With  wishful  looks  we  stand. 
And  long  to  see  that  happy  coast, 

And  reach  that  heavenly  land. 


'27G  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Our  old  companions  in  distress 

We  haste  again  to  see, 
And  eao-er  Ions;  for  our  release 

And  full  felicity : 
Even  now  by  faith  we  join  our  hands 

With  those  that  went  before, 
And  greet  the  blood-besprinkled  bands 

On  the  eternal  shore. 

Our  spirits,  too,  shall  quickly  join, 

Like  theirs  with  glory  crowned. 
And  shout  to  see  our  Captain's  sign, 

To  hear  His  trumpet  sound. 
Oh !  that  we  now  might  grasp  our  Guide ! 

Oh !  that  the  word  were  given  ! 
Come,  Lord  of  hosts !  the  waves  divide, 

And  land  us  all  in  Heaven  ! — Chas.  Wesley. 


8IN0,  FOR  TO  UR  REDE3IPTI0N  IS  NEAR. 
A  KING  was  once  hunting  alone  in  a  wood,  when 
he  heard  a  very  beautiful  voice  singing  very  sweet- 
ly ;  he  went  on,  and  saw  it  was  a  poor  leper :  "  How 
can  you  sing,"  he  said,  "  when  you  seem  in  so 
wretched  a  condition  ?"  The  leper  replied,  "  It  is 
because  I  am  in  this  state  I  sing ;  for,  as  my  body 
decays,  I  know  that  the  hour  of  my  deliverance 
draws  nigh,  when  I  shall  leave  this  miserable  world, 
and  go  to  my  Lord  and  my  God." — Rachel  Gray. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  277 


"  TO  BE  WITH  CHEIST:' 
"  To  he  ivith  Christ^  Who  can  comprehend 
this  but  the  Christian  ?  It  is  a  heaven  which  world- 
Hngs  care  not  for.  They  know  not  what  a  mass  of 
glory  is  crowded  into  that  one  sentence — "  To  be 
with  Christ."  But  to  the  behever  the  words  are  a 
concentration  of  bUss.  Take  only  one  of  the  many 
precious  thoughts  the  words  suggest — tJie  sight  of 
Christ.  ''  Thine  eye  shall  see  the  King  in  his  beau- 
ty." We  have  heard  of  him,  and  can  say,  "Whom 
havino-  not  seen  we  love."  But  then  we  "  shall  see 
him."  Yes,  we  shall  actually  gaze  upon  the  exalt- 
ed Redeemer.  Realize  the  thought.  Is  there  not 
a  heaven  within  it  ?  Thou  shalt  see  the  hands 
which  were  nailed  to  the  cross  for  thee ;  thou  shalt 
see  the  thorn-crowned  head,  and  with  ail  the  blood- 
washed  throng  shalt  thou  bow  with  lowly  reverence 
before  him  who  bowed  in  lowly  abasement  for  thee. 
Faith  is  precious,  but  what  must  sight  be  ?  To  view 
Jesus  as  the  Lamb  of  God  through  the  glass  of 
faith  makes  the  soul  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable ; 
but  oh !  to  see  him  face  to  face,  to  look  into  those 
eyes,  to  hear  that  voice — rapture  begins  at  the  very 
mention  of  it.  If  even  to  think  of  it  is  so  swxet, 
what  must  the  vision  be  when  we  shall  talk  with 


278  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

him,  "  even  as  a  man  talketh  with  his  friend" — for 
the  vision  of  Christ  impHes  communion.  All  that 
which  the  spouse  desired  in  Solomon's  Song  we 
shall  have,  and  ten  thousand  times  more.  Then 
will  the  prayer  be  fulfilled,  "Let  him  kiss  me  with 
the  kisses  of  his  mouth ;  for  thy  love  is  better  than 
wine."  Then  we  shall  be  able  to  say,  "  His  left  hand 
is  under  my  head,  and  his  right  hand  doth  embrace 
me."  Then  shall  we  experience  the  promise,  "  They 
shall  walk  with  me  in  white,  for  they  are  worthy." 
And  then  we  will  pour  out  the  song  of  gratitude,  a 
song  such  as  we  have  never  sung  on  earth,  tuneful, 
dulcet,  pure,  full  of  serenity  and  joy,  no  discord  to 
mar  its  melody — a  song  rapt  and  seraphic.  Happy 
day,  when  vision  and  communion  shall  be  ours  in 
fullness  —  when  we  shall  know  even  as  we  are 
known ! — Charles  Spurgeon. 


THE  BIBLE. 

The  new  convert,  dazzled  over  its  pages  with  the 
ecstasy  of  his  new-found  hope,  yet  can  not  as  deep- 
ly and  ardently  love  it  as  he  will  do  when,  a  gray- 
headed  patriarch,  years  after,  he  turns  afresh  its 
wondrous  leaves  to  adore  the  ever-full  freshness  of 
its  lessons,  and  to  remember  all  the  lights  it  has 
cast  upon  his  weary  pathway. — W.  R.  Williams. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME,  279 


NEARING  HEA  VEN 
We  read  that,  in  certain  climates  of  the  world,  the 
gales  that  spring  from  the  land  carry  a  refreshing 
smell  out  to  sea,  and  assure  the  watchful  pilot  that 
he  is  approaching  a  desirable  and  fruitful  coast, 
when  as  yet  he  can  not  discern  it  with  his  eyes. 
And  to  take  up  the  comparison  of  life  to  a  voyage, 
in  like  manner  it  fares  with  those  who  have  steadily 
and  religiously  pursued  the  course  which  heaven 
pointed  out  to  them.  We  shall  sometimes  find,  by 
their  conversation  towards  the  end  of  their  days, 
that  they  are  filled  with  peace,  and  hope,  and  joy, 
which,  like  refreshing  gales  and  reviving  odors  to 
the  seamen,  are  breathed  forth  from  Paradise  upon 
their  souls,  and  give  them  to  understand  with  cer- 
tainty that  God  is  bringing  them  into  the  desired 
haven. — J.  Townson. 


HEA  VEN  A  HOME. 

Home  !  oh,  how  sweet  is  that  word  !  what  beauti- 
ful and  tender  associations  cluster  thick  around  it ; 
compared  with  it,  house,  mansion,  palace  are  cold, 
heartless  terms.  But  home !  that  word  quickens 
the  pulse,  warms  the  heart,  stirs  the  soul  to  its  depths, 


280  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

makes  age  feel  young  again,  rouses  apathy  into  en- 
ergy, sustains  the  sailor  in  his  midnight  watch,  in- 
spires the  soldier  with  courage  on  the  field  of  battle, 
and  imparts  patient  endurance  to  the  worn-down 
sons  of  toil.  The  thought  of  it  has  proved  a  seven- 
fold shield  to  virtue  ;  the  very  name  of  it  has  a  spell 
to  call  back  the  wanderer  from  the  paths  of  vice ; 
and  far  away,  where  myrtles  bloom,  and  palm-trees 
wave,  and  the  ocean  sleeps  upon  coral  strands,  to 
the  exile's  fond  fancy  it  clothes  the  naked  rock,  or 
stormy  shore,  or  barren  moor,  or  wild  highland 
mountain  with  charms  he  weeps  to  think  of,  and 
longs  once  more  to  see.  Grace  sanctifies  these 
lovely  affections,  and  imparts  a  sacredness  to  the 
homes  of  earth  by  making  them  types  of  heaven. 
As  a  home  the  believer  delights  to  think  of  it.  Thus, 
when  lately  bending  over  a  dying  saint,  and  express- 
ing our  sorrow  to  see  him  lay  so  low,  with  the  ra- 
diant countenance  rather  of  one  who  had  just  left 
heaven  than  of  one  about  to  enter  it,  he  raised  and 
clasped  his  hands,  and  exclaimed  in  ecstasy,  "  I  am 
going  home." — Thomas  Guthrie. 


Extraordinary  afflictions  are  not  always  the 
punishment  of  extraordinary  sins,  but  sometimes  the 
trial  of  extraordinary  graces. — Matthew  Henry. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  281 


THE  GLORIOUS  GOSPEL. 

Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature — that  is,  go 
tell  every  man,  without  exception,  whatsoever  his 
sins  be,  whatsoever  his  rebellions  be — go  and  tell 
him  these  glad  tidings,  that  if  he  will  come  in,  Jesus 
will  accept  him,  his  sins  shall  be  forgiven  him,  and 
he  shall  be  saved. 

The  Gospel  method  of  salvation  resembles  a  well- 
drawn  picture,  which  seems  to  look  every  person  in 
the  room  in  the  face.  In  like  manner.  Gospel  truth 
has  something  in  it  suitable  to  every  one's  case  that 
reads  or  hears  it,  and  that  as  particularly  as  if  it 
spoke  to  every  Gospel  hearer  by  name. — W.  Arnot. 


ASLEEP  AND  A  WANE 

One  should  go  to  sleep  at  night  as  home-sick 
passengers  do,  saying,  "  Perhaps  in  the  morning  we 
shall  see  the  shore."  To  us  who  are  Christians,  is 
it  not  a  solemn,  but  a  delightful  thought,  that  per- 
haps nothing  but  the  opaque  bodily  eye  prevents  us 
from  beholding  the  gate  which  is  open  just  before 
us,  and  nothing  but  the  dull  ear  prevents  us  from 
hearing  the  ringing  of  those  bells  of  joy  which  wel- 
come us  to  the  heavenly  land  ? — H.  W.  Beecher. 


282  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 


LOVE  A  SAFEGUARD. 

As  we  mix  in  life,  there  comes,  especially  to  sen- 
sitive natures,  a  temptation  to  distrust.  In  young 
life  we  throw  ourselves  with  unbounded  and  glorious 
confidence  on  such  as  we  think  well  of — an  error 
soon  corrected,  for  we  soon  find  out,  too  soon,  that 
men  and  women  are  not  what  they  seem.  Then 
comes  disappointment,  and  the  danger  is  a  reac- 
tion of  desolating  and  universal  distrust ;  for,  if  we 
look  on  the  doings  of  man  with  a  mere  worldly  eye, 
and  pierce  below  the  surface  of  character,  we  are 
apt  to  feel  bitter  scorn  and  disgust  for  our  fellow- 
creatures.  We  have  lived  to  see  human  hollow- 
ness ;  the  ashes  of  the  Dead  Sea  shore ;  the  false- 
ness of  what  seems  so  fair  ;  the  mouldering  beneath 
whitcd  sepulchres ;  and  no  wonder  if  we  are  tempted 
to  think  "  friendship  all  a  cheat ;  smiles,  hypocrisy ; 
words,  deceit."  And  they  who  are  what  is  called 
KNOWING  in  life  contract  by  degrees,  as  the  result 
of  their  experience,  a  hollow  distrust  of  men,  and 
learn  to  sneer  at  apparently  good  motives.  That 
demoniacal  sneer  which  we  have  seen,  ay,  perhaps 
felt,  curling  the  lips  at  times,  "  Doth  Job  serve  God 
for  naught  ?" 

The  only  preservation  from  this  withering  of  the 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  283 

heart  is  love.  Love  is  its  own  perennial  fount  of 
strength.  The  strength  of  affection  is  a  proof,  not 
of  the  worthiness  of  the  object,  but  of  the  largeness 
of  the  soul  which  loves.  Love  descends,  not  as- 
cends. The  might  of  a  river  depends  not  on  the 
quality  of  the  soil  through  which  it  passes,  but  on 
the  inexhaustibleness  and  depth  of  the  spring  from 
which  it  proceeds.  The  greater  mind  cleaves  to 
the  smaller  with  more  force  than  the  other  to  it.  A 
parent  loves  the  child  more  than  the  child  the  par- 
ent ;  and  partly  because  the  parent's  heart  is  larger, 
not  because  the  child  is  worthier.  The  Savior  loved 
his  disciples  infinitely  more  than  his  disciples  him, 
because  his  heart  was  infinitely  larger.  Love  trusts 
on — ever  hopes  and  expects  better  things,  and  this 
a  trust  springing  from  itself  and  out  of  its  own  deeps 
alone. 

Therefore,  come  what  may,  hold  fast  to  love. 
Though  men  should  rend  your  heart,  let  them  not 
embitter  or  harden  it.  We  win  by  tenderness  ;  w^e 
conquer  by  forgiveness.  Oh,  strive  to  enter  into 
something  of  that  large  celestial  charity,  which  is 
meek,  enduring,  unretaliating,  and  which  even  the 
overbearing  world  can  not  withstand  forever.  Learn 
the  new  commandment  of  the  Son  of  God.  Not  to 
love,  but  to  love  as  he  loved.  Go  forth  in  this  spirit 
to  your  life-duties ;  go  forth,  children  of  the  Cross, 


284:  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

to  carry  every  thing  before  you,  and  win  victories 
for  God  by  the  conquering  power  of  a  love  hke  his. 
— F.  W.  Robertson. 


''MORE  THAN  CONQUERORS:' 
The  Christian  is  to  be  a  conqueror  at  last.  Do 
you  think  that  we  are  forever  to  be  the  drudges  and 
the  slaves  of  sin,  sighing  for  freedom,  and  yet  never 
able  to  escape  from  its  bondage  ?  No !  Soon  the 
chains  which  confine  me  shall  be  broken,  the  doors 
of  my  prison  shall  be  opened,  and  I  shall  mount  to 
the  glorious  city,  the  abode  of  holiness,  where  I  shall 
be  entirely  freed  from  sin.  We  who  love  the  Lord 
are  not  to  sojourn  in  Mesech  for  aye.  The  dust 
may  defile  our  robes  now,  but  the  day  is  coming 
when  we  shall  rise  and  shake  ourselves  from  the 
dust,  and  put  on  our  beautiful  garments.  It  is  true 
we  are  now  like  Israel  in  Canaan.  Canaan  is  full 
of  enemies ;  but  the  Canaanites  shall  and  must  be 
driven  out,  and  the  whole  land  from  Dan  to  Beer- 
sheba  shall  be  the  Lord's.  Christians,  rejoice  !  You 
are  soon  to  be  perfect,  soon  to  be  free  from  sin,  w  ith- 
out  one  wrong  inclination,  one  evil  desire.  You  are 
soon  to  be  as  pure  as  the  angels  in  light ;  nay,  more, 
with  your  Master's  garments  on,  you  are  to  be  "  holy 
as  the  holy  One."     Can  you  think  of  that  ?     Is  it 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  285 

not  the  very  sum  of  heaven,  the  rapture  of  bHss,  the 
sonnet  of  the  hill-tops  of  glory — that  you  are  to  be 
perfect  ?  No  temptation  can  reach  you  ;  nor,  if  the 
temptation  could  reach  you,  would  you  be  hurt  by 
it,  for  there  will  be  nothing  in  you  which  could  in 
any  way  foster  sin.  It  would  be  as  when  a  spark 
falls  upon  an  ocean — your  holiness  would  quench  it 
in  a  moment.  Yes,  washed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus, 
you  are  soon  to  walk  the  golden  streets,  white-robed 
and  white-hearted  too.  Oh  rejoice  in  the  immediate 
prospect,  and  let  it  nerve  you  for  the  present  con- 
flict.— Charles  Spurgeon. 


MAKING  GOUS  LAW  OUR  SONG. 

Thy  statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the  honse  of  my  pil- 
grimage,— Psalm  cxix.,  54. 

Come,  Christian  pilgrim,  and  beguile  your  weari- 
some journey  heavenward  by  "  singing  the  Lord's 
song  in  this  strange  land."  With  the  statutes  of  God 
in  your  hand  and  in  your  heart,  you  are  furnished 
with  a  song  for  every  step  of  your  way :  "  The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh 
me  to  he  down  in  green  pastures;  he  leadeth  me 
beside  the  still  waters.  He  restoreth  my  soul ;  he 
leadeth  me  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  his 
name's  sake.     Yea,  though  I  walk  throuWi  the  val- 


286  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

ley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for 
thou  art  with  me ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  com- 
fort me.  Thou  preparest  a  table  before  me  in  the 
presence  of  mine  enemies ;  thou  anointest  my  head 
w  ith  oil ;  my  cup  runneth  over.  Surely  goodness 
and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life, 
and  I  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  forever." 
A  song  such  as  this  can  not  fail  to  smooth  your 
path,  and  reconcile  you  to  the  many  inconveniences 
of  the  way,  while  the  recollection  that  it  is  here  only 
"the  house  of  your  pilgrimage,"  and  not  your  home, 
and  "  that  there  remaineth  a  rest  for  the  people  of 
God,"  will  support  the  exercise  of  faith  and  patience 
to  the  end.  The  same  statutes,  which  are  the  yoke 
and  burden  of  the  worldly  professor,  are  the  subject 
of  the  believer's  daily  song  and  the  source  of  his 
daily  comfort,  leading  him  from  pleasure  to  pleasure, 
and,  under  the  cherishing  vigor  of  gracious  com- 
munications, making  his  way  and  work  easy  and 
prosperous.  Evidently,  therefore,  our  knowledge  of 
the  Lord's  statutes,  and  our  delight  in  them,  will  fur- 
nish a  decisive  test  of  our  real  state  before  God. 
But  what  reason  have  we  every  moment  to  guard 
against  that  debasing,  stupefying  influence  of  the 
world,  which  makes  us  forget  the  proper  character 
of  a  pilgrim  !  And  what  habitual  conflict  must  be 
maintained  with  the  sloth  and  aversion  of  a  reluct- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  287 

ant  heart  to  maintain  our  progress  in  the  journey 
toward  Zion! 

Reader,  have  you  entered  upon  a  pilgrim's  hfe  ? 
Then  what  is  your  solace  ?  What  is  your  refresh- 
ment on  the  road  ?  It  is  dull,  heavy,  wearisome  to 
be  a  pilgrim  without  a  "  song ;"  and  yet  the  Lord's 
statutes  must  be  understood  and  felt  in  all  their  bless- 
ed experience  before  they  will  form  our  song.  And 
"if  you  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious" — if 
"  he  has  put  a  new  song  into  your  mouth,"  oh !  do 
not  suffer  any  carelessness  or  neglect  to  rob  you 
of  this  heavenly  anticipation.  Let  not  your  lips  be 
found  mute.  Seek  to  keep  your  heart  in  tune.  Seek 
to  maintain  a  lively  contemplation  of  the  place  whith- 
er you  are  going — of  him  who,  as  your  "forerunner," 
is  for  you  entered  thither — and  of  the  prospect  that, 
when  he  has  "  prepared  a  place  for  you,  he  will  come 
again  and  take  you  to  himself,  that  where  he  is, 
there  you  may  be  also."  In  this  spirit,  and  in  these 
hopes  before  you,  you  may  take  up  your  song,  "  O 
God  !  my  heart  is  fixed  ;  I  will  sing  and  give  praise. 
I  will  bless  the  Lord  at  all  times ;  his  praise  shall 
continually  be  in  my  mouth."  Thus  may  you  go 
on  your  pilgrimage  "  singing  in  the  ways  of  the 
Lord,"  and  commencing  a  song  below,  which,  in  the 
world  of  praise  above,  shall  never,  never  cease.— 
Charles  BRmoEs. 


288  LIGHT  AT  EYENING  TIME. 


BESIGNATIOK 

Stricken,  smitten,  and  afflicted, 
Savior,  to  Thy  cross  I  cling ; 

Thou  hast  every  blow  directed. 
Thou  alone  canst  healinc;  brine:. 

Try  me  till  no  dross  remaineth ; 

And,  whatever  the  trial  be, 
While  Thy  gentle  arm  sustaineth, 

Closer  will  I  clinci:  to  Thee. 

Cheerfully  the  stern  rod  kissing, 
I  will  husli  each  murmuring  cry ; 

Every  doubt  and  fear  dismissing. 
Passive  in  Thine  arms  will  lie. 

And  when,  through  deep  seas  of  sorrow, 
I  have  gained  the  heavenly  shore, 

Bliss  from  every  wave  I'll  borrow. 
And  for  each  will  love  Thee  more. 


THE  FULL  VISION  AND  ENJO  YJIENT  OF  CUEIST. 

Make  haste,  my  beloved,  and  take  me  to  thyself; 
let  me  see  thee  face  to  face,  and  enjoy  thee,  thou 
dearest  Jesus,  whom  my  soul  longcth  after.  It  is 
good  to  live  upon  thee  by  faith,  but  to  live  with  thee 
is  best  of  all.     I  have  found  one  day  in  thy  courts. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  289 

conversing  sweetly  with  thee,  better  than  a  thousand ; 
but  this  has  only  whetted  my  appetite ;  the  more 
communion  I  have  with  thee,  I  hunger  and  thirst 
still  for  more.  My  soul  panteth  for  nearer,  still 
nearer  communion  with  thee.  When  shall  I  come 
to  appear  before  the  presence  of  God  ?  Oh  thou 
light  of  my  life,  thou  joy  of  my  heart,  thou  knowest 
how  I  wish  for  the  end  of  my  faith,  when  I  shall  no 
longer  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  with  open 
face  behold  the  glory  of  my  Lord.  Thou  hast  so 
endeared  thyself  to  me,  thou  precious  Immanuel,  by 
ten  thousand  thousand  kindnesses,  that  I  can  not  be 
entirely  satisfied,  until  I  have  the  full  vision  and 
complete  enjoyment  of  thyself  The  day  of  our  es- 
pousals has  been  a  blessed  time.  Oh  for  the  mar- 
riage of  the  Lamb,  when  I  shall  be  presented  as  a 
chaste  virgin  to  my  heavenly  bridegroom !  How 
can  I  but  long  earnestly  for  this  full  enjoyment  of 
thy  everlasting  love  !  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  let  me  see 
thee  as  thou  art.  Come  and  make  me  like  unto 
thee.  I  do  love  thee  ;  I  am  now  happy  in  thy  love  ; 
but  not  so  as  I  hope  to  be.  I  am  often  interrupted 
here,  and  never  love  thee  so  much  as  I  desire ;  but 
these  blessed  spirits,  standing  now  round  thy  throne, 
are  perfected  in  love.  Oh  that  I  was  once  admitted 
to  see,  as  they  do,  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ !     Is  not  that  the  voice  of  my  beloved 


290  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

which  I  hear  answering,  Surely  I  come  quickly  ? 
Amen,  say  I ;  even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus.  Make 
haste,  my  beloved,  and  be  thou  hke  to  a  roe,  or  to  a 
young  hart  upon  the  mountains  of  spices. — Wil- 
liam  ROMAINE. 


« I  A3I  BEAD  Y  TO  DIEP 
The  Christian,  at  his  death,  should  not  be  like  the 
child  who  is  forced  by  the  rod  to  quit  his  play,  but 
like  the  one  who  is  wearied  of  it,  and  willing  to  go 
to  bed.  Neither  ought  he  to  be  like  the  mariner 
whose  vessel,  by  the  violence  of  the  tempest,  is  drift- 
ed from  the  shore,  tossed  to  and  fro  upon  the  ocean, 
and  at  last  suffers  wreck  and  destruction,  but  like 
one  who  is  ready  for  the  voyage,  and  the  moment 
the  wind  is  favorable,  cheerfully  weighs  anchor,  and, 
full  of  hope  and  joy,  launches  forth  into  the  deep. 
The  pious  monk,  Staupitz,  says,  "Die  as  Christ  did, 
and  then,  beyond  all  doubt,  your  death  will  be  good 
and  blessed."  But  how,  then,  did  Christ  die  ?  "  No 
man,"  he  himself  says,  "  taketh  my  life  from  me,  but 
I  lay  it  down  of  myself"  And  St.  Luke  tells  us 
that  "  when  the  time  was  come  that  he  should  be 
received  up,  he  steadfastly  set  his  face  to  go  to  Je- 
rusalem ;"  that  is,  he  took  the  way  to  it  with  a  con- 
fident and  cheerful  heart  and  an  intrepid  look.     Let 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  291 

us  follow  this  great  forerunner;  and  that  we  may 
do  it  with  alacrity  and  confidence,  and  be  at  all  times 
ready,  let  us  so  order  our  affairs  that  when  we  come 
to  die,  we  may  have  nothing  else  to  do. — Christian 

SCRIVER. 


PILGEUrS  WAY  TO  HEAVEN. 
That  wonderful  book  (Pilgrim's  Progress),  while 
it  obtains  admiration  from  the  most  fastidious  crit- 
ics, is  loved  by  those  who  are  too  simple  to  admire 
it There  is  no  ascent,  no  declivity,  no  rest- 
ing-place, no  turnstile  with  which  we  are  not  per- 
fectly acquainted.  The  wicket-gate  and  the  desolate 
swamp  which  separates  it  from  the  City  of  Destruc- 
tion, the  long  line  of  road  as  straight  as  a  rule  can 
make  it,  the  Interpreter's  house  and  all  its  fair  shows, 
the  prisoner  in  the  iron  cage,  the  palace,  at  the  doors 
of  which  armed  men  keep  guard,  and  on  the  battle- 
ments of  which  walked  persons  clothed  all  in  gold, 
the  cross  and  the  sepulchre,  the  steep  hill  and  the 
pleasant  arbor,  the  stately  front  of  the  house  Beau- 
tiful by  the  wayside,  the  chained  lions  crouching  in 
the  porch,  the  low  green  valley  of  Humiliation,  rich 
with  grass  and  covered  with  flocks — all  are  as  well 
known  to  us  as  the  sights  of  our  own  street.  Then 
we  come  to  the  narrow  place  where  Apollyon  strode 


292  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

right  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  way  to  stop 
the  journey  of  Christian,  and  where  afterwards  the 
pillar  was  set  up  to  testify  how  bravely  the  pilgrim 
had  fought  the  good  fight.  As  we  advance,  the  val- 
ley becomes  deeper  and  deeper,  the  shade  of  the 
precipices  on  both  sides  falls  blacker  and  blacker. 
The  clouds  gather  overhead.  Doleful  voices,  the 
clanking  of  chains,  the  rushing  of  many  feet  to  and 
fro,  are  heard  through  the  darkness.  The  way, 
hardly  discernible  in  the  gloom,  runs  close  by  the 
mouth  of  the  burning  pit,  which  sends  forth  its  flames, 
its  noisome  smoke,  and  its  hideous  shapes  to  terrify 
the  traveler.  Thence  he  goes  on  amidst  the  snares 
and  pitfalls,  with  the  mangled  bodies  of  those  who 
have  perished  in  the  ditch  by  his  side.  At  the  end 
of  the  long  dark  valley  he  passes  the  dens  in  w  hich 
the  old  giants  dwelt,  amidst  the  bones  of  those  whom 
they  had  slain. 

Then  the  road  passes  straight  on  through  a  waste 
moor,  till  at  length  the  towers  of  a  distant  city  ap- 
pear before  the  traveler,  and  soon  he  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  innumerable  multitudes  of  Vanity  Fair. 
There  are  the  jugglers  and  the  apes,  the  shows  and 
the  puppet-shows.  There  are  Italian  Row,  and 
French  Row,  and  Spanish  Row,  and  British  Row, 
with  their  crowds  of  buyers,  sellers,  loungers,  jabber- 
ing all  the  languages  of  the  earth. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  293 

Thence  we  go  on  by  the  Httle  hill  of  the  silver 
mine,  and  through  the  meadow  of  lilies,  along  the 
bank  of  that  pleasant  river  which  is  bordered  on 
both  sides  by  fruit-trees.  On  the  left  branches  off 
the  path  leading  to  the  horrible  castle,  the  court-yard 
of  which  is  paved  with  the  skulls  of  pilgrims ;  and 
right  onward  are  the  sheep-folds  and  orchards  of 
the  Delectable  Mountains. 

From  the  Delectable  Mountains  the  way  lies 
through  the  fogs  and  briers  of  the  enchanted  ground, 
with  here  and  there  a  bed  of  soft  cushions  spread 
under  a  green  arbor.  And  beyond  is  the  land  of 
Beulah.  where  the  flowers,  the  grapes,  and  the  song 
of  birds  never  cease,  and  where  the  sun  shines  night 
and  day.  Thence  are  plainly  seen  the  golden  pave- 
ments and  streets  of  pearl  on  the  other  side  of  that 
black  and  cold  river  over  which  there  is  no  bridge. 
— T.  B.  Macaulay. 


THE  PILGRIM'S  PR  A  YER. 

.Guide  me,  O  Thou  great  Jehovah  ! 

Pilgrim  through  this  barren  land ; 
I  am  weak,  but  Thou  art  mighty ; 

Hold  me  with  Thy  powerful  hand ! 
Bread  of  Heaven  !     Bread  of  Heaven ! 
Feed  me  now,  and  evermore. 


294  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

Of)en  now  the  crystal  Fountain 

Whence  the  healing  streams  do  flow ; 

Let  the  fiery,  cloudy  pillar 

Lead  me  all  my  journey  through ; 

Strong  Deliverer !     Strong  Deliverer ! 

Be  Thou  still  my  strength  and  shield. 

When  I  tread  the  verge  of  Jordan, 
Bid  my  anxious  fears  subside ; 

Death  of  death,  and  Hell's  destruction, 
Land  me  safe  on  Canaan's  side ; 
Songs  of  praises,  songs  of  praises, 

I  will  ever  give  to  Thee. — William  Williams. 


BEGINNING  OF  HEAVEN 
The  joys  of  heaven  will  begin  as  soon  as  we  at- 
tain the  character  of  heaven  and  do  its  duties.  That 
may  begin  to-day.  It  is  everlasting  life  to  know 
God — to  have  his  spirit  dwelling  in  you — yourself 
at  one  with  him.  Try  that  and  prove  its  worth. 
Justice,  usefulness,  wisdom,  religion,  love,  are  the 
best  things  we  hope  for  in  heaven.  Try  them  on — 
they  will  fit  you  here  not  less  besecmingly.  They 
are  the  best  things  of  earth.  Think  no  outlay  of 
goodness  and  piety  too  great.  You  will  find  your  re- 
ward begin  here.  As  much  goodness  and  piety,  so 
much  heaven.  Men  will  not  pay  you — God  will  pay 
you  now,  pay  you  hereafter  and  forever. — T.  Parker. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  295 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE  BELIEVER. 
The  death  of  the  behever  is  always  glorious,  and 
the  difference  between  the  circumstances  of  the  de- 
parture of  the  prophet  Elijah  and  those  of  the  serv- 
ants of  God  in  all  ages  is  not  so  great  as  might  at 
first  be  supposed.  In  the  rapture  of  Elijah  there 
was  only  seen  a  little  more  than  usual  of  that  which 
is  true  in  fact,  but  which  is  concealed  to  the  eye  of 
sense  in  the  death  of  every  believer.  The  spirit  of 
the  departing  saint  is  not  left  to  wing  a  solitary  flight 
to  the  distant  regions  of  bliss,  but  an  angel  escort  is 
sent  even  for  the  humblest.  At  the  cotter's  door — 
by  the  bedside  of  the  prisoner  in  his  lonely  cell — 
amid  the  smoke  and  flame  of  the  battle-field,  or  the 
darkness  of  the  storms  in  mid-ocean,  as  well  as  in 
the  peaceful  dwelling  or  gilded  palace,  there  stands 
in  waiting  for  the  expiring  saint  the  shining  escort 
— the  chariot  of  fire  and  horses  of  fire,  to  waft  the 
soul  away  to  heaven.  True,  in  the  case  of  Elijah, 
as  an  especial  honor  to  one  who  had  especially  hon- 
ored him,  God  sent  his  flaming  ministers  a  little  far- 
ther on  the  road  of  life  to  receive  him  than  he  is  ac- 
customed to  do  for  others;  but  the  same  dazzling 
chariot,  the  same  flaming  steeds  stand  in  waiting,  just 
outside  the  gates  of  sense,  at  the  departure  of  every 


296.  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

faithful  servant  of  God  ;  and  the  dying  saint  no 
sooner  drops  the  mantle  of  his  earthly  body  than, 
like  Elijah,  his  soul  steps  into  the  shining  equipage, 
and  angel  spirits  hurry  it  with  the  speed  of  the  whirl- 
wind into  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

You  say  this  rapture  of  the  glorified  prophet  was 
not  death,  and  you  say  truly ;  and  the  departure  of 
the  believer  is  not  death.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he 
shall  never  see  death.  The  believer  in  Jesus  hath 
already  entered  upon  life  eternal.  "  He  that  believ- 
eth  hath  life" — yes,  hath  it  already,  and  he  can  never 
see  death. 

"  No,  no — it  is  not  dying 
To  go  unto  our  God, 
This  gloomy  earth  forsaking. 
Our  journey  homeward  taking, 
Along  the  starry  road." 

No,  this  is  not  death.  To  many  a  Christian,  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  the  gates  of  Paradise  stand 
open  before  the  golden  chain  is  broken,  and  he  be- 
gins to  enjoy  conscious  angelic  companionship  and 
felicity  before  his  countenance  changes  or  his  heart 
ceases  to  beat.  But  with  all  alike  the  transition  is 
instantaneous,  and  the  moment  the  ear  ceases  to 
hear  the  sobs  of  mourning  friends,  it  catches  the 
hallelujahs  of  the  world  of  glory. — John  Stanford 
Holme. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  297 


SPIRITUAL  FELLOWSHIP  WITH  THE  LOVED  AND 

THE  LOST. 

That  which  is  most  valuable  and  lovely  of  life  on 
earth — sanctified  friendship — can  not  be  said  to  die 
w^ith  those  we  love ;  but,  through  their  death,  it  is 
rather  raised  to  a  higher  and  more  influential  life. 
By  the  transfer  of  our  loved  ones  to  heaven,  our 
friendship  becomes  spiritualized  and  perpetuated. 
Our  friends  live  in  such  circumstances,  and  in  such 
relation  to  us,  that  their  spirit,  and  faith,  and  love 
should  exert  more  influence  upon  us  than  ever. 
"  Being  dead,  they  yet  speak" — speak  to  us  in  such 
tones  as  should  only  the  more  command  attention 
and  charm  the  ear.  A  holy  life  has  been  com- 
pared ta  a  song  —  a  song  of  praise,  and  there  is 
something  not  only  beautiful,  but  very  striking  in 
the  simile.  A  song  hath  its  lower  and  its  higher 
notes,  but  they  are  all  pitched  to  one  key ;  and  so 
the  life  of  the  Christian  hath  its  lower  notes  of  sor- 
row and  its  higher  notes  of  joy,  but  they,  too,  are 
all  set  to  the  one  key-note — the  love  of  God  in 
Christ ;  and  thus,  together,  they  make  up  the  mel- 
ody of  a  holy  life — a  life  in  Christ. 

This  melody  does  not  cease  with  this  life,  nor 

does  it  cease  to  awaken  its  echoes  in  the  heart  of 

U 


298  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

loved  ones  when  the  singer  is  lost  to  sight  through 
death ;  but  it  continues  to  come  floating  down  to  us 
from  the  heavenly  world  like  the  song  of  the  sky- 
lark, only  rendered  more  sweet  and  enchanting  by 
distance.  I  shall  never  forget  my  own  first  impres- 
sion of  the  morning  song  of  the  English  skylark. 
In  my  zeal  as  a  traveler  to  see  all  that  could  be  seen, 
I  had  arisen  with  the  sun,  and  had  wandered  off* 
alone  over  the  hills  surrounding  the  old  city  of  Win- 
chester and  its  grand  cathedral.  The  rays  of  the 
rising  sun  had  changed  the  dew-drops  into  diamonds, 
and  the  early  breeze  had  awakened  the  lark  both  to 
song  and  to  flight ;  for  as  this  almost  spirit-bird  be- 
gins to  sing,  it  commences  also  mounting  upon  its 
wings,  and,  mounting,  it  continues  to  sing,  and,  sing- 
ing, it  continues  to  mount  higher  and  still  higher,  as 
if  it  had  truly  bid  adieu  to  earth,  as  Jeremy  Taylor 
has  it,  and  had  gone  to  mingle  with  the  choirs  of 
heaven.  At  last  I  could  no  longer  see  the  bird.  Its 
form  was  entirely  lost  to  my  vision,  but  its  song 
was  still  heard ;  its  glad  notes  still  came  floating 
down  from  heaven  like  the  music  of  an  angel,  and 
charmed  my  heart  the  more,  since  my  eye  could  no 
longer  discern  the  singer.  Such  is  the  song  of  a 
holy  life ;  for  the  Christian,  as  he  commences  the 
song  of  the  new  life,  commences  his  upward  course, 
and  his  song  grows  sweeter  as  he  rises ;  and  it  is 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  299 

never  so  sweet,  so  moving,  so  attractive  as  when 
the  singer  is  lost  to  human  vision,  and  the  notes 
come  floating  down  to  us  from  the  upper  spirit- 
world.  Listen !  Can  we  not  even  now  hear  some 
notes  of  the  life-song  of  some  departed  loved  one  ? 
If  the  ear  is  too  dull  to  catch  the  spirit-strains,  can 
not  the  heart  discern  the  melody,  and  is  there  not 
awakened  within  us  kindred  harmonies  ?  They  tell 
us  that  when  two  lutes  are  attuned  to  the  same  key, 
and  placed  near  each  other,  when  one  is  struck  the 
other  is  heard  to  send  forth  notes  and  tones  of  kin- 
dred harmony.  May  not  our  spirits  be  thus  so 
nearly  attuned  to  the  same  key  with  those  of  our 
loved  ones  who  have  gone  before  to  heaven,  and 
may  we  not  draw  so  near  to  them  in  spiritual  union 
and  sympathy  that,  even  while  we  are  yet  upon  the 
earth,  our  souls  may  send  forth  occasional  strains 
at  least  of  that  song  which  fills  all  hearts,  and  occu- 
pies all  voices  in  the  choirs  of  the  redeemed  ?  Yes, 
yes,  it  is  even  so. 

"  Their  song  to  us  descendeth ; 

The  spirit  who  in  them  did  sing, 
To  us  his  music  lendeth ; 

His  song  in  them,  in  us,  is  one ; 
We  raise  it  high,  we  send  it  on — 
The  song  that  never  endeth." 

J.  Stanford  Holme. 


300  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


COMMUNION  WITH  GOB  A  FEEPAEATION  FOR 

DEATH 

It  is,  I  believe,  an  undoubted  truth  that,  in  pro- 
portion as  any  one  draws  near  to  God,  and  thinks 
of  him,  and  prays  to  him  constantly  and  earnestly, 
so  does  he  become  familiar  with  the  life  beyond  the 
grave,  and  finds  it  possible  and  natural  to  fix  his 
faith  there.  For  with  God  continually  in  our 
thoughts  —  God  in  Christ  I  mean,  for  a  Christian 
knows  God  no  otherwise  than  as  approached 
through  his  Son — with  God  constantly  thought  of, 
praised,  thanked,  and  served,  it  is  impossible  that 
death  should  any  longer  be  so  great  a  barrier,  or 
the  state  beyond  it  so  dark  and  cheerless.  For  to 
God  there  is  no  difference  of  time  or  state.  He  ip, 
after  our  death  as  before  it,  before  it  as  after  it,  in 
all  respects  the  same.  And  death,  which  to  him  is 
absolutely  nothing,  becomes  to  us  also  less  and  less 
in  proportion  as  we  are  more  entirely  his.  So  it  is 
said  that  Enoch  walked  with  God ;  and  then  it  is 
added,  "And  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him."  He 
walked  with  God  on  earth,  and  he  walked  with  God 
in  heaven,  and  the  two  became  blended  in  one,  and 
the  barrier  between  them  melted  away  into  nothing. 
This  is  a  true  type,  showing  that  the  sense  of  death 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  301 

is  destroyed  by  our  consciousness  of  God.  He  who 
walks  with  God  faithfully  here,  all  that  is  said  of 
him  will  be,  "  He  was  not,  for  God  took  him."  He 
will  be  missed  here  by  us,  but  to  himself  it  is  in  a 
manner  all  but  one  life,  the  latter  part  the  more  per- 
fect and  the  happier,  yet  both  were  passed  with  God. 
Again,  all  that  has  been  said  tends  to  that  same 
conclusion  on  which  I  have  dwelt  so  often — the  one 
conclusion,  "Let  us  pray."  Let  us  pray:  if  we  have 
prayed  hitherto,  let  us  pray  the  more ;  if  we  have 
not,  then  let  us  begin  to  pray.  Remember  that  we 
may  pray  not  merely  as  God's  creatures,  but  as  his 
children.  This  is  our  Christian  privilege ;  this 
Christ's  death  has  purchased  for  us.  We  may  pray 
to  God  as  his  children.  Where,  then,  is  fear  ? 
Where  is  doubt  ?  Where  ought  to  be  coldness  ? 
More  certainly  than  our  fathers  and  mothers  love 
us  does  God  the  Most  High  love  us,  even  us — so 
humble,  so  sinful.  And  this  is  the  most  simple  truth 
in  the  world,  although  it  sounds  like  the  loftiest 
flight  of  fancy  —  it  is  really  and  actually  true. 
Wherefore  let  us  pray  to  God  in  Christ  continu- 
ally ;  and  so  we  shall  learn,  like  the  patriarchs,  to 
live  in  taith  and  to  die  in  faith. — Thomas  Arnold. 


Grace  withereth  without  adversity. 


302  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


A  SIGHT  WELL-PLEASING  TO  G  OB. 
To  see  a  Christian  mind  encountering  some  great 
affliction,  and  conquering  it ;  to  see  his  valor  in  not 
sinking  at  the  hardest  distresses  of  life,  this  is  a 
sight  which  God  delights  to  behold.  It  were  no 
hard  condition  to  have  a  trial  now  and  then,  with 
long  ease  and  prosperity  between ;  but  to  be  plied 
with  one  affliction  at  the  heels  of  another ;  to  have 
them  come  thronging  in  multitudes,  and  of  different 
kinds,  this  is  that  which  is  often  the  portion  of  those 
who  are  the  beloved  of  God. — Robert  Leighton. 


HEAVEN  A  CITY. 

A  CITY  never  built  with  hands,  nor  hoary  with  the 
years  of  time ;  a  city  whose  inhabitants  no  census 
has  numbered ;  a  city  through  Avhose  streets  rush 
no  tide  of  business,  nor  nodding  hearse  creeps  slow- 
ly with  its  burden  to  the  tomb ;  a  city  without  griefs 
or  graves,  without  sins  or  sorrows,  w  ithout  births  or 
burials,  without  marriages  or  mournings ;  a  city 
which  glories  in  having  Jesus  for  its  king,  angels 
for  its  guards,  saints  for  citizens;  whose  walls  are 
salvation,  and  whose  gates  are  praise.  —  Thomas 
Guthrie. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  303 


LAST  VICTORY. 

"  Then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is 
written,  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  'So 
let  all  thine  enemies  perish,  oh  Christ;"  and  "let 
them  that  love  thee  be  as  the  sun,  when  he  goeth 
forth  in  his  might."  They  shall  he  this,  for  they 
shall  be  sons  of  light,  "  being  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  shall  shine  as  the  stars,  and  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament,  forever  and  ever."  As  a 
wreck  may  sink  in  the  sea,  and  the  ocean  close  over 
it  so  that  not  a  vestige  of  its  existence  shall  remain, 
nor  a  ripple  on  the  surface  tell  that  it  was,  so  shall 
mortality  be  swallowed  up  of  life — immortal  life — 
life  sinless,  God-like,  divine.  Nor  shall  there  be 
wanting  the  voice  of  rejoicing,  as  heard  at  the  ter- 
mination of  successful  war,  for  "  death  shall  be  swal- 
lowed up  in  victory!' — -Thomas  Binney. 


CARING  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 
Men  fall  into  the  great  mistake,  on  this  subject, 
of  supposing  that  to  look  forward  must  mean  to 
look  ANXIOUSLY  forward.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  look 
forward  with  hope  as  with  sadness.  And  God's 
Word  does  not  teach  us  that  we  arc  not  to  plan 


304  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

and  forelook,  but  that  we  are  not  to  plan  and  fore- 
look  with  a  spirit  of  anxious,  mischievous,  annoying 
fear.  That  is  forbidden.  Asceticism  of  every  kind 
is  against  the  Word  of  God.  That  is  asceticism 
which  leads  a  man  to  torment  himself  on  account 
of  the  future — which  leads  a  man  to  use  the  future 
as  a  whip  to  flagellate  himself  with.  That  is  for- 
bidden. It  is  not  using  the  future ;  it  is  rather  abus- 
ing it. — H.  W.  Beecher. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ABRAHAM. 
When  the  days  of  Abraham,  the  man  of  God  and 
hero  of  faith,  drew  toward  a  close,  he  laid  himself 
down  upon  his  quiet  bed,  full  of  years,  and  satisfied 
with  life,  and  summoned  his  children  and  grandchil- 
dren ;  and  they  stood  in  a  circle  around  him.  Then 
the  old  man  spake  with  serene  aspect,  and  said,  "  My 
children,  the  God  in  whom  I  have  believed  now  calls 
me  to  himself;"  and  he  blessed  them.  His  children, 
however,  wept,  saying,  "  Oh  that  the  hour  might  nev- 
er come  !"  But  he  replied,  "No,  my  dears.  I  have 
walked  as  a  child  before  him  all  the  days  of  my  life 
in  truth  and  love  ;  why  should  I  now,  when  he  calls, 
delay  to  go  to  him  T  So  saying,  he  bowed  his  head 
and  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  the  form  of  death  was 
as  if  one  slumbered. — F.  W.  Krummacher. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  305 


BEA UTY  OF  OLD  AGE. 

The  scathed  and  leafless  tree  may  seem 

Old  age's  mournful  sign, 
Yet  on  its  bark  may  sunshine  gleam, 

And  moonlight  softly  shine. 

Thus  on  the  cheek  of  age  shall  rest 

The  light  of  days  gone  by. 
Calm  as  the  glories  of  the  West, 

When  night  is  drawing  nigh. 

As  round  the  scathed  trunk  fondly  clings 

The  ivy  green  and  strong. 
Repaying,  by  the  grace  it  brings, 

The  succor  granted  long, 

So  round  benevolent  old  age 

May  objects  yet  survive, 
Whose  greenness  can  the  heart  engage, 

And  keep  the  soul  alive. — Bernaed  Baeton. 


AGED  AND  HELPLESS. 

Is  age  and  feebleness  extreme, 
Who  shall  a  helpless  worm  redeem  ? 
Jesus,  my  only  hope  Thou  art. 
Strength  of  my  failing  flesh  and  heart ; 
Oh,  could  I  catch  a  smile  from  Thee, 
And  drop  into  eternity  ! 


306  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


HEA  YEN  L  0  OKED  FOR  WARD  TO, 

There  is  a  land  of  pure  deliglit, 

Where  saints  immortal  reign, 
Infinite  day  excludes  the  night, 

And  pleasures  banish  pain. 

There  everlasting  spring  abides, 

And  never  withering  flowers ; 
Death,  like  a  naiTow  sea,  divides 

Tliis  heavenly  land  from  ours. 

Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood 

Stand  dressed  in  living  green ; 
So  to  the  Jews  old  Canaan  stood, 

While  Jordan  rolled  between. 

But  timorous  mortals  start  and  shrink 

To  cross  this  narrow  sea, 
And  linger  shivering  on  the  brink, 

And  fear  to  launch  away. 

Oh,  could  we  make  our  doubts  remove, 

These  gloomy  doubts  that  rise. 
And  see  the  Canaan  that  we  love 

With  unbeclouded  eyes ; 

Could  we  but  climb  where  Moses  stood. 

And  view  the  landscape  o'er. 
Not  Jordan's  stream,  nor  death's  cold  flood 

Should.  frio;ht  us  from  the  shore. — Isaac  Watts. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  307 


neahness  of  heaven. 
The  nearness  of  heaven  is  suggested  by  the  epi- 
thet "  veil."  Christians,  there  is  only  a  veil  between 
us  and  heaven !  A  veil  is  the  thinnest  and  frailest 
of  all  conceivable  partitions.  It  is  but  a  fine  tissue, 
a  delicate  fabric  of  embroidery.  It  waves  in  the 
wind ;  the  touch  of  a  child  may  stir  it,  and  accident 
may  rend  it;  the  silent  action  of  time  will  moulder 
it  away.  The  veil  that  conceals  heaven  is  only  our 
embodied  existence,  and,  though  fearfully  and  won- 
derfully made,  it  is  only  wrought  out  of  our  frail 
mortality.  So  slight  is  it  that  the  puncture  of  a 
thorn,  the  touch  of  an  insect's  sting,  the  breath  of  an 
infected  atmosphere,  may  make  it  shake  and  fall. 
In  a  bound,  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
in  the  throb  of  a  pulse,  in  the  flash  of  a  thought,  we 
may  start  into  disembodied  spirits,  glide  unabashed 
into  the  company  of  great  and  mighty  angels,  pass 
into  the  light  and  amazement  of  eternity,  know  the 
great  secret,  gaze  upon  splendors  which  flesh  and 
blood  could  not  sustain,  and  which  no  words  law- 
ful for  man  to  utter  could  describe!  Brethren  in 
Christ,  there  is  but  a  step  between  you  and  death ; 
between  you  and  heaven  there  is  but  a  veil. — C. 
Stanford. 


308  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


GAIN  OF  DYING. 
Throughout  the  Bible  it  is  declared  that  the  things 
that  we  are  permitted  to  see  in  this  life  are  but  imita- 
tions, glimpses  of  what  we  shall  see  hereafter.  "  It 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  w^e  shall  be. "  There  are 
times  when  it  seems  as  though  our  circumstances, 
our  nature,  all  the  processes  of  our  being,  conspired 
to  make  us  joyful  here,  yet  the  apostle  says  we  now 
see  "  through  a  glass  darkly."  What,  then,  must  be 
the  vision  which  we  shall  behold  when  we  go  to  that 
place  above  where  we  shall  see  face  to  face  ?  What 
a  land  of  glory  have  you  sent  your  babies  into ! 
What  a  land  of  delight  have  you  sent  your  children 
and  companions  into  !  What  a  land  of  blessedness 
are  you  yourselves  coming  to  by-and-by  !  Men  talk 
about  dying  as  though  it  was  going  toward  a  deso- 
late place.  All  the  past  in  a  man's  life  is  down  hill 
and  toward  gloom,  and  all  the  future  of  man's  life  is 
up  hill  and  toward  glorious  sunrising.  There  is  but 
one  luminous  point,  and  that  is  the  home  toward 
which  we  are  tending,  above  all  storms,  above  all 
sin  and  peril.  Dying  is  glorious  crowning ;  living 
is  yet  toiling.  If  God  be  yours,  all  things  are  yours. 
Live  while  you  must,  yet  yearn  for  the  day  of  con- 
summation, when  the  door  shall  be  thrown  open, 


LIGHT  AT  EYENING  TIME.  309 

and  the  bird  may  fly  out  of  his  netted  cage,  and  be 
heard  singing  in  higher  spheres  and  diviner  realms. 
— H.  W.  Beecher. 


THOUGHTS  OF  heaven: 

And  there  truly  is  nothing  which  should  keep 
your  desires  from  heaven.  No  ;  not  that  delightful 
circle  of  home  where  the  parent's  eye  may  glisten 
as  he  looks  upon  his  child,  and  the  child  may  smile 
with  joy  because  it  gazes  on  its  father;  or,  more 
loving  still,  when  it  looks  upon  its  mother — there  is 
naught  even  there  which  can  abstract  the  desires 
from  heaven ;  and  the  only  modification  of  that  de- 
sire should  be  that  children,  and  parents,  and  breth- 
ren, and  sisters  should  all  meet  in  heaven.  No ; 
there  is  nothing,  when  here  we  meet  round  the  table 
of  the  Lord,  and  Christian  comes  by  Christian  to 
taste  the  bread  and  wine  which  shows  forth  the 
Lord's  death  till  he  comes — till  we  all  meet  as  by 
one  electric  impulse  upon  the  spirit — till  we  all  blend 
together  in  one,  being  members  of  his  body,  and  his 
flesh,  and  his  bone — there  is  nothing  here  that  can 
abstract  the  desires  from  heaven ;  the  only  modifi- 
cation of  that  desire  must  be  that  those  who  break 
the  bread  and  drink  the  wine  may  have  fulfilled  at 
last  the  glorious  promise,  "Verily,  I  will  no  more 


310  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 

taste  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  until  that  day  when  I 
drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom. " 
Onward  and  onward  still,  from  year  to  year,  and 
from  day  to  day,  must  the  Christian  spirit  press  in 
its  desire  toward  heaven.  It  will  be,  my  brethren, 
but  a  little  longer,  and  then  that  desire  shall  be  ful- 
filled, and  mortality  will  be  swallowed  up  in  life. 
The  portal  shall  be  entered,  and  the  spirit  shall  gaze 
round  on  the  wonders  of  its  completed  salvation. 
What  pearly  gates  are  these  ?  What  jasper  walls 
are  these  ?  What  golden  streets  are  these  ?  What 
splendid  palaces  are  these  ?  What  immortal  trees 
are  these  ?  What  crystal  streams  are  these  ?  What 
amaranthine  bowers  are  these  ?  These  are  the  spir- 
its of  the  just,  and  I  see  my  parents,  my  partner,  and 
my  children,  and  they  beckon  to  the  entrance.  There 
is  Jesus,  whom  my  soul  hath  loved,  and  now  I  be- 
hold him  with  the  glory  of  his  Godhead.  And  there 
is  the  overshadowing  splendor  of  everlasting  hap- 
piness, which  breathes  blessings  on  all  beneath  it. 
And  this — this  is  heaven  !  Earth,  I  have  nothing  to 
do  with  thee,  with  thy  dull  days  and  thy  nights  of 
darkness.  I  have  left  thee,  with  thy  storms  and 
tempests — with  thy  distressing  temptations  and  thy 
polluting  scenes.  I  have  left  thee,  with  thy  sor- 
rows, thy  bereavements,  thy  diseases,  and  thy  desti- 
nies.    This — this  is  heaven !     Am  I  come  there  ? 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  311 

Then  redemption  and  immortality  arc  mine.  Oh, 
brethren,  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body,  can  we 
tell  ?  Have  not  your  desires  expanded  and  ex- 
tended till  even  now  you  listen  to  the  song,  and  in- 
hale the  atmosphere  of  heaven  ?  We  must  come 
back  again  to  earth  till  the  will  of  God  removes 
us  ;  but  as  we  descend  to  the  world  of  mortality,  and 
of  sorrow,  and  of  sin,  in  which  we  must  breathe  a 
little  longer,  we  can  not  but  send  our  desires  to  him 
who  has  gone  before  us,  "  When  shall  I  come  and 
appear  before  God  ?"  "  Oh  that  I  had  the  wings  of 
a  dove,  then  I  would  flee  away  and  be  at  rest !" — 
James  Parsons. 


THE  MUSIC  OF  HEAVEN. 
We  may  judge  by  the  saints  here,  when  they  are 
in  a  fit  disposition  to  praise  God,  what  fervors  they 
feel  in  their  united  praises  of  him  in  heaven.  The 
psalmist,  in  an  ecstasy,  calls  to  all  the  parts  of  the 
world  to  join  with  him  :  "  The  Lord  reigns  ;  let  the 
heavens  rejoice,  and  the  earth  be  glad ;  let  the  sea 
roar,  let  the  fields  be  joyful,  and  all  that  dwell  there- 
in." He  desires  that  nature  should  be  elevated  above 
itself,  that  the  dead  parts  be  inspired  with  life,  the 
insensible  feel  motions  of  joy,  and  those  that  want 
a  voice  break  forth  in  praises  to  adorn  the  divine 


312  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

triumph.  With  what  Hfe  and  alacrity  will  the  saints 
in  the  blessed  communion  celebrate  the  object  of 
their  love  and  praises !  The  seraphim  about  the 
throne  "  cried  to  one  another"  to  express  their  zeal 
and  joy  in  celebrating  his  eternal  purity  and  power, 
and  the  glory  of  his  goodness.  Oh!  the  unspeaka- 
ble pleasure  of  this  concert,  when  every  soul  is  har- 
monious, and  contributes  his  part  to  the  full  music 
of  heaven  !  Oh,  could  we  hear  but  some  echo  of 
those  songs  wherewith  the  heaven  of  heavens  re- 
sounds,  some  remains  of  those  voices  wherewith 
the  saints  above  "  triumph  in  the  praises"  in  the  sol- 
emn adoration  of  the  King  of  Spirits,  how  would  it 
inflame  our  desires  to  be  joined  with  them  ?  "Bless- 
ed are  those  that  are  in  thy  house ;  they  always 
praise  thee." — William  Bates. 


SERVICE  OF  IIEA  VEN. 
They  serve  God.  "  They  cry  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb !"  They  are  before  the 
throne  of  God,  and  "  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his 
temple."  Adoration  at  the  throne,  activity  in  the 
temple — the  worship  of  the  heart,  the  worship  of 
the  voice,  the  worship  of  the  hands,  the  whole  be- 
ing consecrated  and  devoted  to   God — -those  are 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  313 

the  services  of  the  upper  sanctuary.  Here  the  flesh 
is  often  wearied  with  an  hour  of  worship  ;  there 
"they  rest  not  day  and  night,  saying,  Holy,  holy, 
holy.  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  was,  and  is,  and 
is  to  come."  Here  a  week  will  often  see  us  weary 
in  well  doing ;  there  they  are  drawn  on  by  its  own 
deliciousness  to  larger  and  larger  fulfillments  of  Je- 
hovah's will.  Here  we  must  lure  ourselves  to  work 
by  the  prospect  of  rest  hereafter ;  there  the  toil  is 
luxury,  and  the  labor  recreation,  and  nothing  but  ju- 
bilees of  praise,  and  holidays  of  higher  service,  are 
wanted  to  diversify  the  long  and  industrious  Sab- 
bath of  the  skies ;  and  it  matters  not  though  some- 
times the  celestial  citizens  are  represented  as  always 
singing,  and  sometimes  as  always  flying ;  some- 
times as  always  working,  sometimes  as  always 
resting,  for  there  work  is  rest,  and  every  moment 
song ;  and  the  "  many  mansions"  may  be  one  tem- 
ple, and  the  whole  being  of  its  worshipers  one  tune 
— one  mighty  anthem,  long  as  eternity,  and  large  as 
its  burden,  the  praise  of  the  great  Three-One — the 
self- renewing  and  ever -sounding  hymn,  in  which 
the  flight  of  every  seraph,  of  every  raptured  spirit, 
is  a  several  note,  and  repeats  ever  over  again,  "Holy, 
holy,  holy.  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  was,  and  is, 

and  is  to  come." — J.  Hamilton. 

X 


314  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


I  WILL  NEVER  LEAVE  THEE  NOR  FORSAKE  THEE. 

How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  tlie  Lord, 
Is  laid  for  your  faith  in  His  excellent  Word ; 
What  more  can  He  say  than  to  you  He  hath  said, 
Who  unto  the  Savior  for  refuge  have  fled : 

Fear  not,  I  am  with  thee ;  oh  be  not  dismayed, 
For  I  am  thy  God,  and  will  still  give  thee  aid ; 
I'll  strengthen  thee,  help  thee,  and  cause  thee  to  stand, 
Upheld  by  My  righteous,  omnipotent  hand. 

When  through  the  deep  waters  I  call  thee  to  go, 
The  rivers  of  sorrow  shall  not  overflow ; 
For  I  will  be  with  thee  thy  trials  to  bless. 
And  sanctify  to  thee  thy  deepest  distress. 

When  through  fiery  trials  thy  pathway  shall  lie, 
My  grace,  all-sufficient,  shall  be  thy  supply ; 
The  flame  shall  not  hurt  thee ;  I  only  design 
Thy  dross  to  consume,  and  thy  gold  to  refine. 

E'en  down  to  old  age  all  my  people  shall  prove 
My  sovereign,  eternal,  unchangeable  love ; 
And  then,  when  gray  hairs  shall  their  temples  adorn, 
Like  lambs  they  shall  still  in  my  bosom  be  borne. 

The  soul  that  on  Jesus  hath  leaned  for  repose, 
I  will  not — I  will  not  desert  to  his  foes ; 
That  soul,  though  all  hell  should  endeavor  to  shake, 
I'll  never — no,  never — no,  never  forsake. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME,  315 


THE  CHAMBER  OF  SICKNESS. 

Chamber  of  sickness !  much  to  thee  I  owe, 

Tliough  dark  thou  l3e ; 
The  lessons  it  imports  me  most  to  know 

I  owe  to  thee. 
A  sacred  seminary  thou  hast  been, 
I  trust,  to  train  me  to  a  happier  scene. 

Chamber  of  sickness !  suffering  and  alone. 

My  friends  withdrawn, 
The  blessed  beams  of  heavenly  truth  have  shone 

On  me  forlorn 
With  such  a  hallowed  vividness  and  power 
As  ne'er  were  granted  to  a  brighter  hour. 

Chamber  of  sickness !  midst  thy  silence  oft 

A  voice  is  heard. 
Which,  though  it  falls  like  dew  on  flowers,  so  soft 

Yet  speaks  each  word 
Into  the  aching  heart's  unseen  recess, 
With  power  no  earthly  accents  could  possess. 

Chamber  of  sickness !  in  that  bright  abode 

Where  is  no  pain. 
If,  through  the  merits  of  my  Savior  God, 

A  seat  I  gain. 
This  theme  shall  tune  my  golden  harp's  soft  lays. 
That  in  thy  shelter  passed  my  early  days. — Anon. 


316  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 


WAY8  OF  GOD. 
God  often  lets  his  people  reach  the  shore  as  on 
planks  of  a  shipwrecked  vessel.  He  deprives  us  of 
the  cisterns,  in  order  to  make  us  drink  out  of  the 
fountains  of  waters.  He  frequently  takes  away  our 
supports,  not  that  we  may  fall  to  the  ground,  but  that 
he  may  himself  become  our  rod  and  our  staff.  The 
embarrassments  of  his  people  are  only  the  festive 
scaffoldings  on  which  his  might,  his  faithfulness,  and 
his  mercy  celebrate  their  triumphs. — F.  W.  Krum- 

MACHER. 


PA  UrS  E&TIMATE  OF  HE  A  VEN. 

"  I  RECKON,"  he  says,  hke  a  man  skilled  in  spiritu- 
al arithmetic,  "  I  reckon,"  after  a  due  estimate  of 
their  comparative  value,  "  that  the  sufferings  of  this 
present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed." 

No  man  was  ever  so  well  qualified  to  make  this 
estimate.  Of  the  sufferings  of  the  present  world  he 
had  shared  more  largely  than  any  other  man.  Of 
the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed,  he  had  a  glimpse 
granted  to  no  other  man.  He  had  heard  the  words 
of  God,  and  seen  the  vision  of  the  Almighty,  and 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  317 

the  result  of  this  privileged  experience  was,  he  "  de- 
sired to  depart  and  be  with  Christ ;"  he  desired  to 
escape  from  this  valley  of  tears ;  he  was  impatient 
to  recover  the  celestial  vision,  eager  to  perpetuate 
the  momentary  foretaste  of  the  glories  of  immor- 
tality.— Hannah  More. 


NO  T  IMP  A  TIENT,  B  UT  READ  Y. 
"Are  you  not  weary  for  your  heavenly  rest?" 
said  Whitefield  one  day  to  an  old  clergyman.  ''  No, 
certainly  not,"  he  replied.  "Why  not?"  "Why, 
my  good  friend,"  said  the  old  minister,  "if  you  were 
to  send  your  servant  into  the  fields  to  do  a  certain 
portion  of  work  for  you,  and  promised  to  give  him 
rest  and  refreshment  in  the  evening,  what  would  you 
say  if  you  found  him  languid  and  discontented  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  and  murmuring, '  Would  God 
it  were  evening  ?'  Would  you  not  bid  him  be  up 
and  doing,  and  finish  his  work,  and  then  go  home 
and  get  the  promised  rest  ?  Just  so  does  God  say 
to  you." 

Let  us  take  the  full  comfort  of  this /ac/,  that  we 
are  servants,  and  have  really  no  work  of  our  own  to 
do — nothing  which  we  are  striving  to  accomplish 
on  our  own  account. — Anon. 


318  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


DA  VID'S  HARP  {A  PAEABLE). 

One  day  David,  the  king  of  Israel,  sat  on  the  hill 
of  Sion ;  his  harp  rested  before  him,  and  he  leaned 
his  head  on  the  harp. 

The  Prophet  Gad  came  to  him  and  said,  "Of 
what  are  you  thinking,  my  king  ?" 

David  answered  and  said,  "  Of  my  perpetually 
changing  lot.  How  many  hymns  of  thanksgiving 
and  rejoicing,  but,  also,  how  many  plaintive  and 
mournful  odes,  have  I  sung  with  this  harp  !" 

"  Be  thou  like  thy  harp  !"  said  the  prophet. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  the  king. 

"  Behold,"  answered  the  man  of  God,  "  thy  sorrow, 
as  thy  joy,  elicited  heavenly  tones  from  thy  harp, 
and  animated  its  strings;  so  may  sorrow  and  joy 
form  thy  heart  and  life  to  the  heavenly  harp." 

Then  David  arose  and  struck  the  strings. — F.  W. 
Krummacher. 


INQ  UIBIES  AB  0  UT  HE  A  VEN. 

"  My  chief  conception  of  heaven,"  said  Robert 
Hall  to  Wilberforce,  "  is  rest."  "  Mine,"  said  Wil- 
berforce,  "is  love."  Perhaps  both  conceptions  were 
true ;  and  union  of  perfect  love  with  perfect  rest 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  319 

conveys  our  best  idea  of  heaven,  considered  simply 
as  a  state.  But  what  is  the  manner  of  existence 
there,  and  what  is  the  true  physical  theory  of  anoth- 
er life  ?  How  shall  we  see  without  these  eyes,  hear 
without  these  ears,  act  without  this  material  instru- 
ment of  being  ?  What  are  the  visions,  the  emotions, 
the  specific  employment  of  heaven  ?  Where  and 
what  is  the  region  itself  ?  Is  it  a  star  ?  Is  it  a  sun  ? 
Is  it  a  vast  and  splendid  cluster  of  worlds,  or  is  it 
some  spacious,  magnificent,  and  unhmited  continent 
of  light  and  beauty  ?  Where  are  "  the  holy  places 
not  made  with  hands  ?"  Where  are  the  "  many  man- 
sions of  our  Father's  house  ?"  Where  is  the  grand 
metropolis  of  God's  moral  rule,  whence  his  laws  go 
forth,  and  whither  the  tribes  go  up,  "  the  tribes  of  the 
Lord,"  from  every  realm  of  earth,  and  every  age  of 
time  ?  Where  stands  that  throne  before  which,  at 
this  solemn  instant,  the  innumerable  companies  of 
the  glorified  bend  in  an  ecstasy  of  adoration  ?  The 
Heir  of  Glory  dies — "  he  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and 
where  is  he?"  These  questions  are  unanswered 
and  unanswerable. 

"  He  that  hath  found  some  fledged  bird's  nest  may  know 
At  first  sight  if  the  bird  be  flown ; 
But  what  fair  field  or  grove  he  sings  in  now, 
That  is  to  him  unknown." 

C.  Stanford. 


320  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME, 


FRIENDSHIPS  OF  HEAVEN. 
Man  is  constituted  to  be  happy  in  society.  Place 
him  in  sohtude,  and,  however  exciting  and  feUcitous 
are  his  circumstances  in  other  respects,  he  will  with- 
er and  pine  away.  But  above,  we  shall  be  with 
many  that  shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and 
north  and  south,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob.  The  entire  heaven  of  angels,  and 
the  whole  host  of  the  redeemed,  we  shall  have  sweet 
and  improving  fellowship  with  forever !  The  wise 
and  the  good,  the  great  and  the  pure,  the  benevolent 
and  active,  from  every  region,  will  be  our  compan- 
ions and  associates,  with  whom  we  shall  live,  and 
love,  and  know,  and  obey,  through  one  eternally  en- 
during day.  Of  all  the  afflictions  to  which  we  are 
liable,  there  is  none  so  painful  as  the  death  of  our 
friends.  And  oh !  what  a  consoling  balm  is  the 
doctrine  that  we  shall,  in  the  realms  above,  be  re- 
stored to  their  fellowship.  This  doctrine  is  involved 
in  many  passages  of  Scripture :  in  the  account  of 
the  last  judgment  day — in  the  language  of  David  on 
the  occasion  of  the  death  of  his  infant  child  by  Bath- 
sheba — in  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus 
— in  the  consolation  which  our  Savior  gives  to  the 
penitent  sinner  on  the  cross — in  the  assurance  ad- 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  321 

ministered  by  the  apostle  St.  Paul  to  the  Thessalo- 
nian  believers,  that  they  should  be  his  joy  and  crown 
of  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
at  his  coming,  and  in  the  same  apostle  forbidding 
them  to  sorrow  for  such  as  had  fallen  asleep  as 
though  they  had  no  hope  of  being  united  with  them, 
and  of  being  together  with  the  Lord — and  in  the 
general  use  which  the  sacred  writers  make  of  the 
word  SLEEP  for  death — a  simile  which  would  be  fla- 
grantly incorrect  if  our  recollections,  our  friendships 
and  affections,  were  not  renewed  in  a  future  state. 
And,  in  general,  the  same  doctrine  is  taught  also 
through  the  whole  book  of  the  Revelations  of  St. 
John.  Happy  prospect,  that  exalts  friendship  into 
religion !  What  blest  society  there  will  be  above  1 
— J.  Beaumont. 


FORETOKENS  OF  HEAVEN. 

Let  the  traveler,  however  remote  his  stray,  find 
something  congenial  to  his  own  latitude  and  coun- 
try, and  the  sense  of  alienation  is  redeemed.  Should 
he  unexpectedly  discover  the  daisy  of  his  native 
fields,  or  catch  the  wood-note  that  had  caroled  from 
his  native  groves  —  should  he  hear  his  mother 
tongue — should  he  enjoy  the  right  and  protection 
of  some  institution  at  which  his  youthful  heart  had 


322  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

learned  to  bound  —  though  the  earth's  diameter 
struck  through  between  his  sojourn  and  his  own 
land,  even  that  sojourn  would  be  less  to  him  than 
home.  And  the  Christian  has  now  much  akin  to 
heaven.  His  heart  is  there.  Eternal  life  abides  in 
him.  Now  he  possesses  the  principles  which  heav- 
en but  matures,  and  cherishes  the  affections  which 
it  but  expands. — R.  W.  Hamilton. 


''IT IS  well:' 
A  POOR  wayfarer,  leading  by  the  Laud 

A  little  child,  had  halted  by  a  well. 
To  wash  from  off  her  feet  the  clinging  sand. 
Arid  tell  the  tired  boy  of  that  bright  land 

Where,  this  long  journey  past,  they  longed  to  dwell. 

When,  lo !  the  Lord  who  many  mansions  had. 
Drew  near,  and  looked  upon  the  suffering  twain : 

Then  pitying  spoke :  "  Give  me  the  little  lad ; 

In  strength  renewed,  and  glorious  beauty  clad, 
I'll  bring  him  with  me  when  I  come  again." 

Did  she  make  answer  selfishly  and  wrong — 

"  Nay,  but  the  woes  I  feel  he  too  must  share !" 
Oh  rather,  bursting  into  grateful  song. 
She  went  her  way  rejoicing,  and  made  strong 


To  struirsfle  on,  since  he  was  freed  from  care. 


AjW71. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  323 


I  WO  ULD  NOT  LIVE  AL  WA  Y. 
I  WOULD  not  live  alway :  I  ask  not  to  stay 
Where  storm  after  storm  rises  dark  o'er  the  way ; 
The  few  lurid  mornings  that  dawn  on  us  here, 
Are  enough  for  life's  woes,  full  enough  for  its  cheer. 

I  -w^ould  not  live  alway ;  no — welcome  the  tomb, 
Since  Jesus  hath  lain  there,  I  dread  not  its  gloom ; 
There,  sweet  be  my  rest,  till  He  bid  me  arise 
To  hail  Him  in  triumph  descending  the  skies. 

Who,  who  would  live  alway,  away  from  his  God ; 
Away  from  yon  heaven,  that  blissful  abode. 
Where  the  rivers  of  pleasure  flow  o'er  the  bright  plains, 
And  the  noontide  of  glory  eternally  reigns : 

Where  the  saints  of  all  ages  in  harmony  meet. 
Their  Savior  and  brethren,  transported  to  greet  ; 
While  the  anthems  of  rapture  unceasingly  roll, 
And  the  smile  of  the  Lord  is  the  feast  of  the  soul ! 

Wm.  a.  Muiilenbueg. 


FULLNESS  OF  JOY  AT  GOD'S  EIGHT  HAND. 

I  HAVE  found  it  an  interesting  thing  to  stand  on 

the  edge  of  a  noble  rolling  river,  and  to  think  that, 

although  it  has  been  flowing  on  for  six  thousand 

years,  watering  the  fields,  and  slaking  the  thirst  of  a 


324  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

hundred  generations,  it  shows  no  signs  of  waste  or 
want ;  and  when  I  have  watched  the  rise  of  the  sun 
as  he  shot  above  the  crest  of  the  mountain,  or  in  a 
sky  draped  with  golden  curtains  sprang  up  from  his 
ocean  bed,  I  have  wondered  to  think  that  he  has 
melted  the  snows  of  so  many  winters,  and  renewed 
the  verdure  of  so  many  springs,  and  painted  the 
flowers  of  so  many  summers,  and  ripened  the  gold- 
en harvests  of  so  many  autumns,  and  yet  shines  as 
brilliant  as  ever,  his  eye  not  dim,  nor  his  natural 
strength  abated,  nor  his  floods  of  light  less  full  for 
centuries  of  boundless  profusion.  Yet  what  are 
these  but  imao^es  of  the  fullness  that  is  in  Christ  ? 
Let  that  feed  your  hopes,  and  cheer  your  hearts,  and 
brighten  your  faith,  and  send  you  away  this  day 
happy  and  rejoicing.  For  when  judgment  flames 
have  licked  up  that  flowing  stream,  and  the  light  of 
that  glorious  sun  shall  be  quenched  in  darkness,  or 
veiled  in  the  smoke  of  a  burning  world,  the  fullness 
that  is  in  Christ  shall  flow  on  throughout  eternity  in 
the  bliss  of  the  redeemed.  Blessed  Savior,  image 
of  God,  divine  Redeemer,  in  thy  presence  is  fullness 
of  joy,  at  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  ev- 
ermore. What  thou  hast  gone  to  heaven  to  pre- 
pare, may  we  be  called  up  at  death  to  enjoy. — T. 
Guthrie. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME,  325 


LONGING  FOR  HEAVEN.       . 

It  appears  from  the  life  of  the  poet  Southey  that 
he  had  at  times  a  wish  to  leave  the  world,  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  enjoying 
the  intellectual  society  of  a  future  state.  Heaven 
was,  in  his  view,  the  home  of  genius,  where  all  the 
gifted  spirits  of  our  race  hold  exalted  fellowship. 
He  longed  to  see  and  converse  with  Shakspeare, 
Dante,  and  Chaucer.  John  Foster,  a  man  whose 
character  and  thoughts  were  cast  in  a  far  different 
mould,  felt  in  this  world  that  he  was  under  restraint; 
that  the  great  secrets  of  the  spiritual  universe  were 
hid  from  him  ;  that  death  would  break  down  the  bar- 
rier, and  would  give  his  spirit  free  scope  to  plunge 
into  the  mysteries  of  truth.  His  sublime  soul  was 
like  a  courser  panting  to  leap  the  barrier ;  like  an 
eagle  dragging  at  its  chain,  and  longing  to  soar 
above  the  clouds.  Leighton's  desire  was  strictly 
and  simply  spiritual.  It  was  a  longing  for  purity, 
love,  perfection,  Christ,  and  God.  He  felt  this  was 
a  dark  world  because  a  sinful  one,  and  he  longed 
for  a  holy  heaven  more  than  they  who  watch  for  the 
morning,  saying,  "  The  utmost  we  poor  mortals  can 
attain  to  is  to  lie  awake  in  the  dark ;  and  a  great 
piece  of  art  and  patience  is  to  while  away  the  hours 


326  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

of  night."  He  delighted  in  the  old  apothegm,  "  The 
day  which  you  fear  as  the  death-day  of  time  is  the 
birthday  of  eternity."  His  alacrity  to  depart  result- 
ed from  his  earnest  desire  to  see  and  enjoy  perfec- 
tion, in  the  perfect  sense  of  it,  which  he  could  not  do 
and  live. — J.  Stoughton. 


UNANSWERED  PBAYEB. 

The  case  of  the  apostle  is  an  undoubted  instance 
of  "the  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man" 
not "  availing"  for  the  object  desired ;  in  other  words, 
it  teaches  us  that  the  precept  of  our  Lord,  "  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you,"  must  not  be  understood 
as  promising  a  direct  answer  to  every  prayer,  but 
as  expressing  the  certainty  that  he  who  knows  our 
infirmities  before  we  ask,  and  our  ignorance  in  ask- 
ing, will,  in  the  end,  supply  our  needs  with  all  that 
we  require,  though  not  with  all  that  we  desire,  or 
think  that  we  require. 

The  apostle  prayed  not  for  wealth,  or  honor,  or 
wisdom,  but  simply  that  a  great  impediment  to  his 
usefulness  might  be  removed ;  and  even  this  was 
not  granted.  And,  in  like  manner,  a  greater  than 
the  apostle  had  "offered  up  prayers  and  supplica- 
tions with  strong  crying  and  tears,"  earnestly  and 
in  an  agony,  and  the  sweat,  as  it  were  great  drops 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  327 

of  blood,  falling  down  to  the  ground,  saying,  "  Father, 
if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me,"  and  yet 
the  cup  was  not  removed,  and  the  prayer  was  not 
granted.  If  the  prayer  of  Paul  and  the  prayer  of 
Christ  were  refused,  none  need  complain  or  be  per- 
plexed.— Arthur  P.  Stanley. 


''THE  CLOUD  OF  WITNESSES:' 

Surrounded  by  the  great  cloud  of  witnesses,  which 
includes  all  the  illustrious  dead,  cheered  by  the  pres- 
ence of  angels  and  glorified  spirits,  fanned  and  waft- 
ed by  the  wing  of  some  brighter  seraph,  with  the 
glory  of  the  throne  streaming  upon  our  vision,  and 
with  the  melody  of  heaven  falling  upon  our  ears,  let 
us  rise  and  hasten  forward  in  our  course.  If  it  be 
that,  in  the  new  song  of  that  world — the  song  of  re- 
demption— the  sweet  singer  of  Israel  "  is  sweeping 
a  harp  far  more  melodious  and  tuneful  than  the  one 
he  swept  with  a  master  hand  on  earth;  if  Elijah  is 
there,  pouring  "  his  soul  of  fire  into  it ;"  if  Isaiah,  rapt 
in  seraphic  flame,  is  giving  to  it  "  a  loftier  echo ;"  if 
Paul  is  there,  mingling  his  mighty  ascriptions  of 
glory  and  of  praise ;  if  John  is  ever  breathing  into 
it  his  full  heart  of  love ;  if"  the  martyrs,  those  wit- 
nesses for  the  truth  who  passed  through  the  flames 
for  their  reward,"  are  furnishing  "  new  accession  to 


328  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

its  strength ;"  if  all  the  redeemed  are  adding  to  its 
volume  and  its  grandem*,  then  let  us  never  pause 
till  our  feet  shall  stand  on  that  mount  of  God,  and  our 
voices  blend  in  that  one  sweetest  of  all  notes,  "Unto 
him  that  loved  us,  and  hath  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  his  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto 
God;  even  his  Father — unto  him  be  glory  and  do- 
minion forever  and  ever.     Amen." — R.  Ferguson. 


CA&T  THY  BURDEN  ON  THE  LORD. 

Hast  thou  a  care  whose  pressure  dread 
Repels  sweet  slumber  from  thy  bed  ? 
To  thy  Redeemer  take  that  care, 
And  change  anxiety  to  prayer. 

Hast  thou  a  hope  from  which  thy  heart 
Would  feel  it  almost  death  to  part  ? 
Entreat  the  Lord  that  hope  to  crown, 
Or  give  thee  strength  to  lay  it  down. 

Hast  thou  a  friend  whose  ima2:e  dear 
May  prove  an  idol  worshijDed  here  ? 
Implore  the  Lord  that  naught  may  be 
A  shadow  between  heaven  and  thee. 

Whatever  the  care  that  breaks  thy  rest, 
Whate'er  the  wish  that  swells  thy  breast, 
Spread  before  God  that  wish,  that  care, 
And  change  anxiety  to  prayer. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  329 


THE  BE  A  CON  LIGHT. 
While  on  life's  stormy  sea 

My  bark  is  driven, 
From  a  far  coast  to  me 

Sweet  light  is  given, 
Gleaming  around  my  way. 
Changing  dark  night  to  day, 
Blending  its  golden  ray 

With  hues  of  heaven. 

That  beacon  light  I  have, 

And  lose  all  fear ; 
The  Savior  walks  the  wave — 

His  voice  I  hear — 
My  precious,  perfect  Guide, 
Bidding  the  storm  subside. 
Showing,  beyond  the  tide, 

Skies  heavenly  clear. 

I  feel  thy  magnet  powers, 

Bright  world  to  come ! 
Faith  sees  thy  glorious  bowers, 

Where  angels  roam ; 

Where  loved  ones,  gone  before, 

Now  beckon  from  the  shore, 

And  make  me  long  the  more 

For  them  and  home. — S.  D.  Phelps, 
Y 


330  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


C03IF0RT  FOR  THE  HO  UR  OF  DEATH 
After  having  dwelt  much  on  the  graces  and  du- 
ties of  the  behever,  I  would  remind  the  reader  of 
one  unspeakable  privilege  connected  with  all  our 
graces,  all  our  duties,  and  all  our  works.  It  was  the 
privilege  which  comforted  the  devout  Herbert  on 
his  dying  bed.  On  the  day  of  his  death,  when  re- 
minded of  his  many  acts  of  mercy,  he  replied,  "  They 
be  good  works  if  they  be  sprinkled  with  the  blood 
of  Christ,  and  not  otherwise."  There  is  not  only 
for  us  the  blessed  truths  to  be  believed,  that  Jesus 
has  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his 
own  blood,  and  that  our  persons  are  accepted  in  him, 
but  there  is  also  for  us  the  daily  privilege  of  offer- 
ing up  all  our  services  in  his  name :  "  These  are  they 
that  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed 
their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  precious 
blood  of  the  Lamb."  What  Christian  is  not  bur- 
dened and  humbled  to  the  dust  by  the  sins  of  his 
best  doings  ?  All  our  spiritual  clothing,  our  humil- 
ity, our  charity,  our  prayers,  our  kindness  to  others, 
our  gifts  of  every  character,  all  our  robes  of  right- 
eousness imparted  to  us,  as  worn  by  us  are  soon 
polluted,  and  need  the  continual  application  of  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  cleanseth  from  all 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  331 

sin,  that  they  may  be  made  white.  Thus  shall  we 
be  found  at  the  last  among  those  who  are  before  the 
throne  of  God,  and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his 
temple. — Edward  Bickersteth. 


IIEA  VENL  Y  ASTIR  A  TION. 
We  foresee,  by  faith,  that  happy  day.     We  see,  by 
faith,  the  new  Jerusalem ;  the  innumerable  angels ; 
the  perfect  spirits  of  the  just ;  their  glorious  light, 
their  flaming  love,  their  perfect  harmony.     We  hear, 
by  faith,  their  joyful  songs  of  thanks  and  praise. 
Lately  they  were  as  low  and  sad  as  we — in  sins  and 
sorrows,  in    manifold   weaknesses,   sufferings,   and 
fears ;  but  by  faith  and  patience  we  desire  to  follow 
our  Lord  and  them.     The  time  is  near ;  this  flesh 
will  quickly  turn  to  dust,  our  delivered  souls  shall 
come  to  thee ;  our  life  is  short,  and  our  sins  and 
sorrows  will  be  short ;  then  we  shall  have  light ;  we 
shall  no  more  groan,  and  cry  out  in  darkness,  oh 
that  we  could  know  the  Lord !  then  shall  we  love 
thee  with  pure,  unmixed,  perfect  love,  and  need  no 
more  to  groan  and  cry,  oh  that  our  souls  were  in- 
flamed with  thy  love  !  then  shall  we  praise  thee  with 
thankful  alacrity  and  joy,  which  will   exceed   our 
present  apprehensions  and  desires. 

Oh  blessed  streams  of  light  and  love,  which  will 


332  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

flow  from  thy  opened,  glorious  face  upon  our  souls 
forever !  How  far  will  that  everlasting  Sabbath 
and  those  perfect  praises  excel  these  poor  and  dull 
endeavors  ?  as  far  as  that  triumphant  city  of  God  ex- 
celleth  this  imperfect,  childish,  discomposed  church ! 
Quicken,  Lord,  our  longing  for  that  blessed  state 
and  day !  O  come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly,  and 
fulfill  thy  word,  that  we  may  be  with  thee  where 
thou  art,  and  may  behold  thy  glory  ! — R.  Baxter. 


A  CTIVITY  IN  HE  A  YEN. 

Excepting  exemption  from  sin,  intense,  vigorous, 
untiring  action  is  the  greatest  pleasure  of  the  mind. 
I  could  hardly  wish  to  enter  heaven  did  I  believe  its 
inhabitants  were  idly  to  sit  by  purling  streams,  fan- 
ned by  balmy  airs.  Heaven,  to  be  a  place  of  hap- 
piness, must  be  a  place  of  activity.  Has  the  far- 
reaching  mind  of  Newton  ceased  its  profound  in- 
vestigations ?  Has  David  hung  up  his  harp  as  use- 
less as  the  dusty  arms  in  Westminster  Abbey  ? 
Has  Paul,  glowing  with  God-like  enthusiasm,  ceased 
itinerating  the  universe  of  God  ?  Are  Peter,  and 
Cyprian,  and  Edwards,  and  Payson,  and  Evarts 
idling  away  eternity  in  mere  psalm-singing  ?  Heav- 
en is  a  place  of  restless  activity,  the  abode  of  never- 
tiring  thought.     David  and  Isaiah  will  sweep  nobler 


[H][ER[?iV  WA[Ri©   [i3[EIE^SB{]E[E 


Entrsraei  iff 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  333 

and  loftier  strains  in  eternity,  and  the  minds  of  the 
saints,  unclogged  by  cumbersome  clay,  will  forever 
feast  on  the  banquet  of  rich  and  glorious  thought. 
My  friends,  go  on,  then  ;  you  will  never  get  through. 
An  eternity  of  untiring  action  is  before  you,  and  the 
universe  of  thought  is  your  field. — Henry  Ward 
Beecher. 


THE  SHINING  SHORE. 

My  days  are  gliding  swiftly  by, 

And  I,  a  pilgrim  stranger, 
Would  not  detain  them  as  they  fly — 
Those  hours  of  toil  and  danger. 

For  oh !  we  stand  on  Jordan's  strand, 

Our  friends  are  passing  over, 
And  just  before,  the  shining  shore, 
We  may  almost  discover. 

We'll  gird  our  loins,  my  brethren  dear, 

Our  distant  home  discerning ; 
Our  absent  Lord  has  left  us  word, 

Let  every  lamp  be  burning. 
For  oh  !  we,  etc. 

Should  coming  days  be  cold  and  dark, 

We  need  not  cease  our  singing ; 
That  perfect  rest  naught  can  molest, 
Where  golden  hai*ps  are  ringing. 
For  oh  !  w^e,  etc. 


334  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME 

Let  sorrow's  rudest  tempest  blow, 

Each  cord  on  earth  to  sever ; 
Our  King  says,  Come !  and  there's  our  home 

Forever,  oh !  forever ! 
For  oh !  we,  etc. 


NEABING  THE  GATES. 

Now,  while  they  were  thus  drawing  towards  the 
gates,  behold  a  company  of  the  heavenly  host  came 
out  to  meet  them,  to  whom  it  was  said  by  the  other 
two  shining  ones,  *'  These  are  the  men  that  have 
loved  our  Lord  when  they  were  in  the  world,  and 
that  have  left  all  for  his  holy  name,  and  he  hath  sent 
us  to  fetch  them,  and  we  have  brought  them  thus  far 
on  their  desired  journey,  that  they  may  go  in  and 
look  their  Redeemer  in  the  face  with  joy."  .... 

And  now  were  these  two  men,  as  it  were,  in  heav- 
en before  they  came  at  it,  being  swallowed  up  with 
a  sight  of  angels,  and  with  hearing  of  their  melodi- 
ous notes.  .  .  .  But,  above  all,  the  warm  and  joy- 
ful thoughts  that  they  had  about  their  own  dwelling 
there  with  such  company,  and  that  forever  and  ever 
—  oh!  by  what  tongue  or  pen  can  these  glorious 
joys  be  expressed  ?  .  .  .  , 

Now,  just  as  the  gates  were  opened  to  let  in  the 
men,  I  looked  in   after  them,  and  behold,  the   city 


LIGHT  AT  EVEN  IN  a  TIME.  335 

shone  like  the  sun ;  the  streets  were  also  paved  with 
gold,  and  in  them  walked  many  men  with  crowns 
on  their  heads,  palms  in  their  hands,  and  golden 
harps  to  sing  praises  withal.  ..  ,  And  after  that  they 
shut  up  the  gates,  which  when  I  had  seen,  I  wish- 
ed myself  amongst  them. — John  Bunyan. 


A   VISION  OF  GLOEY. 

Child.  But  oh !  what  means  this  weakness,  and 
this  dim  bewilderment,  for  I  feel  as  though  some 
mighty  change  were  working  in  me  ?  The  former 
things  are  past  away,  and  behold  all  things  are  becom- 
ing new !  I  see  no  more  the  world  and  the  glories 
of  it,  as  they  appear  unto  the  eye  of  mortal  man,  but 
in  a  light  so  clear  and  awful !  Surely  it  beameth 
from  eternity  itself!  How  vain  and  perishing  hath 
that  world  become,  thus  suddenly  unveiled  to  me ! 

Divine  Master.  Rise  up,  my  child,  my  faithful 
one,  and  come  away ;  for  lo,  the  winter  is  past,  the 
rain  is  over  and  gone,  the  shadows  depart  of  thy 
mortal  life,  and  the  day  is  dawning  that  never  shall 
fade.     It  is  past — it  is  gone — the  dark  time  of  thy 

conflict  and  trial The  time  of  the  singing  of 

angels  is  come  for  thee,  and  the  voice  of  the  sera- 
phim is  heard  in  that  land.  Thou  hast  wrestled  with 
sin  till  the  breaking  of  the  day  ;  thou  hast  toiled  all 


336  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

night,  but  the  morning  is  nigh.  Arise  up,  then,  my 
child,  my  faithful  one,  and  come  away ;  let  us  haste 
and  be  gone,  for  the  dawn  is  bright  on  the  everlast- 
ing hills. 

Child.  Oh,  my  Lord,  in  the  time  past  of  my  life 
there  was  a  great  strong  wind  that  rent  my  soul,  and 

brake  in  pieces  all  my  hopes  in  this  world 

But  thou  wert  not  in  the  wind And  after  the 

wind  there  was  an  earthquake.  ....  All  the  fair 
things  of  earth  I  had  sought  to  repose  in  gave  way 
beneath  my  feet,  and  I  knew  of  what  dust  they  were 

made But  thou  wert  not  in  the  earthquake. 

....    Then  there  was  a  fire,  the  searching  flame  of 

suffering,  fierce  and  intense But  thou  wert  not 

in  the  fire and  I  still  lived  on ;  and  now  there 

is  a  still  small  voice 

Divine  Master.  And  I  am  here !    Thy  Master  is 

come,  and  calleth  for  thee My  child,  the  day 

breaketh,  and  we  must  depart;  the  shadow  of  death 
is  darkening  on  thine  eyelids,  and  the  radiance  of 

earthly  suns  hath  passed  from  them  forever 

But  the  hand  that  once  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind 
is  laid  upon  thine ;  and  through  thy  soul,  already 
trembling  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  existence,  the 
light  of  eternity  is  dawning,  ere  yet  the  silver  cord 
that  binds  thy  mortal  life  is  altogether  loosed.  Look 
up — what  seest  thou  ? 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  337 

Child.  I  see  worlds  floating  in  the  infinite  glory 
of  God,  like  motes  in  the  sunshine.  I  see  the  cen- 
turies falhng  into  the  ocean  of  eternity,  swift  as  the 
rain-drops  in  summer. 

Divine  Master.  Look  again — what  seest  thou  ? 

Cliild.  The  Word— the  Word  is  fulfilled.  Mine 
eyes  behold  the  King  in  his  beauty.  Oh  God,  Thou 
art  love ! 


TO  DEPART  AND  BE  WITH  CHRIST— FAR  BETTER. 
Not  only  the  dead  are  the  living,  but,  since  they 
have  died,  they  live  a  better  life  than  ours.  ...  In 
what  particulars  is  their  life  now  higher  than  it  was  ? 
First,  they  have  close  fellowship  with  Christ ;  then, 
they  are  separated  from  this  present  body  of  weak- 
ness, of  dishonor,  of  corruption  ;  then,  they  are  with- 
drawn from  all  the  trouble,  and  toil,  and  care  of  this 
present  life ;  and  then,  and  surely  not  least,  they 
have  got  death  behind  them,  not  having  that  awful 
figure  standing  on  their  horizon  waiting  for  them  to 
come  up  with  it.  .  .  .  They  are  closer  to  Christ; 
they  are  delivered  from  the  body  as  a  source  of 
weakness  ;  as  a  hinderer  of  knowledge  ;  as  a  drag- 
ger-down  of  all  the  aspiring  tendencies  of  the  soul ; 
as  a  source  of  sin ;  as  a  source  of  pain ;  they  are 
delivered  from   all  the  necessity  of  labor  which  is 


338  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

agony,  of  labor  which  is  disproportionate  to  strength, 
of  labor  which  often  ends  in  disappointment,  of  la- 
bor which  is  wasted  so  often  in  mere  keeping  life 
in,  of  labor  which  at  the  best  is  a  curse,  though  it 
be  a  merciful  curse  too ;  they  are  delivered  from 
that  "  fear  of  death"  which,  though  it  be  stripped  of 
its  sting,  is  never  extinguished  in  any  soul  of  man 
that  lives ;  and  they  can  smile  at  the  way  in  which 
that  narrow  and  inevitable  passage  bulked  so  large 
before  them  all  their  days,  and,  after  all,  when  they 
come  to  it  was  so  slight  and  small.  If  these  be 
parts  of  the  life  of  them  that  "  sleep  in  Jesus ;"  if 
they  are  fuller  of  knowledge,  fuller  of  wisdom,  fuller 
of  love,  and  capacity  of  love,  and  object  of  love ; 
fuller  of  holiness,  fuller  of  energy,  and  yet  full  of  rest 
from  head  to  foot ;  if  all  the  hot  tumult  of  earthly 
experience  is  stilled  and  quieted,  all  the  fever  beat- 
ing of  this  blood  of  ours  ever  at  an  end ;  all  the 
"  whips  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune"  done  with 
forever,  and  if  the  calm  face  which  we  looked  upon, 
and  out  of  which  the  lines  of  sorrow,  and  pain,  and 
sickness  melted  away,  giving  it  back  a  nobler  noble- 
ness than  we  had  ever  seen  upon  it  in  life,  is  only  an 
image  of  the  restful  and  more  blessed  being  into 
which  they  have  passed — if  the  dead  are  thus,  then 
"  Blessed  are  the  dead." — A.  McLaren. 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  339 


FB  OM  SHAD  0  W  INTO  S  UNSHINE  A  T  LAST. 
Theee  lie  waits  for  Lis  release, 
There  in  God  finds  perfect  peace ; 
Till  tlie  long  years  end  at  last. 
And  lie  too  at  length  lias  past 
From  the  sorrows  and  the  fears, 
From  the  anguish  and  the  tears, 
From  the  desolate  distress 
Of  this  world's  great  loneliness, 
From  its  withering  and  its  blight, 
From  the  shadows  of  its  night. 
Into  God's  pure  sunshine  bright. 

KiCHAKD  ChENEVIX  TeENCH. 


THE  BEST  OF  FAITH. 

For  a  long  time  I  felt  myself  to  be  a  lost  sheep, 
not  knowing  on  whom  to  rely ;  and  now,  with  the 
deepest  consciousness  that  I  have  at  last  attained 
rest,  I  exclaim,  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd !"  What 
is  there  that  can  harm  me  ?  I  have  reached  the 
harbor,  and  storms  can  no  more  drive  my  little  ves- 
sel afloat  upon  the  wide  sea.  And  as  I  look  for- 
ward into  the  future,  I  exclaim  w  ith  David,  "  I  shall 
not  want." — Augustus  Tholuck. 


340  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  SHORE  OF  ETERNITY. 

Alone  !  to  laud  alone  upon  tliat  sliore, 
Witli  no  one  siglit  that  we  have  seen  before; 

Things  of  a  different  hue, 

And  the  sounds  all  new, 
And  fragrances  so  sweet  the  soul  may  faint. 
Alone !     Oh,  that  first  hour  of  being  a  saint ! 

Alone  !  to  land  alone  upon  that  shore, 
On  which  no  wavelets  lisji,  no  billows  roar, 

Perhaps  no  shape  of  ground. 

Perhaps  no  sight  or  sound. 
No  forms  of  earth  our  fancies  to  arrange — 
But  to  begin  alone  that  mighty  change ! 

Alone !  to  land  alone  upon  that  shore. 
Knowing  so  well  we  can  return  no  more ; 

No  voice  or  face  of  friend, 

None  with  us  to  attend 
Our  disembarking  on  that  awful  strand, 
But  to  arrive  alone  in  such  a  land  ! 

Alone !  to  land  alone  upon  that  shore  ! 
To  begin  alone  to  live  forevermore, 

To  have  no  one  to  teach 

The  manners  of  the  speech 
Of  that  new  life,  or  put  us  at  our  ease ; 
Oh  that  we  might  die  in  pairs  or  companies ! 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  341 

Alone  ?  tlie  God  we  know  is  on  that  shore, 
The  God  of  whose  attractions  we  know  more 

Than  of  those  who  may  appear 

Nearest  and  dearest  here ; 
Oh,  is  He  not  the  life-long  friend  we  know 
More  privately  than  any  friend  below  ? 

Alone  ?  the  God  we  trust  is  on  that  shore, 
The  Faithful  One  whom  we  have  trusted  more 

In  trials  and  in  woes 

Than  we  have  trusted  those 
On  whom  we  leaned  most  in  our  earthly  strife : 
Oh,  we  shall  trust  Him  more  in  that  new  life ! 

Alone?  the  God  we  love  is  on  that  shore — 
Love  not  enough,  yet  whom  we  love  far  more. 

And  whom  we  loved  all  throusrh, 

And  with  a  love  more  true 
Than  other  loves — yet  now  shall  love  Him  more : 
True  love  of  Him  begins  upon  that  shore ! 

So  not  alone  we  land  upon  that  shore ; 

'Twill  be  as  though  we  had  been  there  before ; 

We  shall  meet  more  we  know 

Than  we  can  meet  below, 
And  find  our  rest  like  some  returning  dove. 
And  be  at  home  at  once  with  our  Eternal  love ! 

F.  W.  Faber. 


"Thou  hast  dealt  well  with  thy  servant." 


342  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


THE  REUNION. 

As  it  was  the  first  Adam  that  broke  creation  into 
fragments,  so  it  is  the  second  Adam  that  is  to  re- 
store creation  in  all  its  parts  and  regions,  and  make 
it  one  again.  The  good  and  the  evil  then  are  part- 
ed forever,  but  the  good  and  the  good  are  brought 
into  perfect  oneness  —  a  oneness  so  complete,  so 
abiding,  as  more  than  to  compensate  for  brokenness 
and  separation  here. 

The  soul  and  the  body  come  together  and  form 
one  glorified  man.  The  ten  thousand  members  of 
the  church  come  together  and  form  one  glorified 
church.  The  scattered  stones  come  together  and 
form  one  living  temple.  The  Bride  and  the  Bride- 
groom meet.  Here  it  has  been  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism ;  there  it  shall  be  one  body,  one  bride, 
one  vine,  one  temple,  one  family,  one  city,  one  king- 
dom. 

The  broken  fruitfulness,  the  fitful  inconstancy  of 
the  cursed  earth,  shall  pass  into  the  unbroken  beau- 
ty of  the  new  creation.  The  discord  of  the  troubled 
elements  shall  be  laid,  and  harmony  return.  The 
warring  animals  shall  lie  down  in  peace. 

Then  shall  heaven  and  earth  come  together  into 
one.     That  which  we  call  distance  is  annihilated, 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  343 

and  the  curtain  drawn  by  sin  is  withdrawn  from  be- 
tween the  upper  and  lower  glory,  and  the  fields  of  a 
paradise  that  was  never  lost  are  brought  into  happy 
neighborhood  with  the  fields  of  paradise  regained, 
God's  purpose  developing  itself  in  the  oneness  of  a 
twofold  glory — the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  the  risen 
and  the  unrisen,  the  celestial  and  the  terrestrial,  the 
glory  that  is  in  the  heaven  above,  the  glory  that  is 
in  the  earth  beneath  ;  for  "  there  are  celestial  bodies 
and  bodies  terrestrial,  but  the  glory  of  the  celestial 
is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the  terrestrial  is  another." 

Such  scenes  we  need  to  dwell  upon,  that,  as  our 
tribulations  abound,  so  also  our  consolations  may 
abound.  Our  wounds  here  are  long  in  healing.  Be- 
reavements keep  the  heart  long  bleeding.  Melanc- 
thon,  with  a  tender  simplicity  so  like  himself,  refers 
to  his  feelings  when  his  child  was  taken  from  him 
by  death.  He  wept  as  he  recalled  the  past.  It 
pierced  his  soul  to  remember  the  time  when  once, 
as  he  sat  weeping,  his  little  one  with  its  napkin 
wiped  the  tears  from  his  cheeks. 

Recollections  like  these  haunt  us  through  life, 
ever  and  anon  newly  brought  up  by  passing  scenes. 
Some  summer  morning's  sun  recalls,  with  stinging 
freshness,  the  hour  when  that  same  sun  streamed  in 
through  our  window  upon  a  dying  infant's  cradle,  as 
if  to  bring  out  all  the  beauty  of  the  parting  smile, 


34:4:  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 

and  engrave  it  upon  our  hearts  forever.  Or  it  is  a 
funeral  scene  that  cometh  to  memory — a  funeral 
scene  that  had  but  a  few  days  before  been  a  bridal 
one — and  never  on  earth  can  we  forget  the  outburst 
of  our  grief  when  we  saw  the  bridal  flowers  laid 
upon  the  new-made  tomb.  Or  some  wintry  noon 
recalls  the  time  and  the  scene  when  we  laid  a  par- 
ent's dust  within  its  resting-place,  and  left  it  to  sleep 
in  winter's  grave  of  snows.  These  memories  haunt 
us,  pierce  us,  and  make  us  feel  what  a  desolate  place 
this  is,  and  what  an  infinitely  desirable  thing  it  would 
be  to  meet  these  lost  ones  again,  where  the  meeting 
shall  be  eternal. 

Hence  the  tidings  of  this  reunion  in  the  many 
mansions  are  like  home-greetings.  They  relieve  the 
smitten  heart.  They  bid  us  be  of  good  cheer,  for 
the  separation  is  but  brief,  and  the  meeting  to  which 
we  look  forward  will  be  the  happiest  ever  enjoyed. 
The  time  of  sorrowful  recollections  will  soon  pass, 
and  no  remembrance  remain  but  that  which  will 
make  our  joy  to  overflow. 

Every  thing  connected  with  this  reunion  is  fitted 
to  enhance  its  blessedness.  To  meet  again  any 
where,  or  any  how,  or  at  any  time,  would  be  bless- 
ed ;  how  much  more  at  such  a  time,  in  such  circum- 
stances, and  in  such  a  home !  The  dark  past  lies 
behind  us  like  a  prison  from  which  we  have  come 


LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME.  345 

forth,  or  like  a  wreck  from  which  we  have  escaped 
in  safety  and  landed  in  a  quiet  haven.  We  meet 
where  separation  is  an  impossibility,  where  distance 
no  more  tries  fidelity,  or  pains  the  spirit,  or  mars  the 
joy  of  loving.  We  meet  in  a  kingdom.  We  meet 
at  a  marriage-table.  We  meet  in  the  "prepared 
city,"  the  new  Jerusalem.  We  meet  under  the  shad- 
ow of  the  tree  of  life,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
of  life.  We  meet  to  keep  festival  and  sing  the  songs 
of  triumph.  It  was  blessed  to  meet  here  for  a  day  ; 
how  much  more  to  meet  in  the  kingdom  forever  !  It 
was  blessed  to  meet,  even  with  parting  full  in  view ; 
how  much  more  so  when  no  such  cloud  overhanofs 
our  future !  It  was  blessed  to  meet  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  land  of  graves  ;  how  much  more  in 
paradise,  and  in  the  land  where  death  enters  not ! 
It  was  blessed  to  meet "  in  the  night,"  though  chill 
and  dark ;  how  much  more  in  the  morning,  when 
light  has  risen,  and  the  troubled  sky  is  cleared,  and 
joy  is  spreading  itself  around  us  like  a  new  atmos- 
phere from  which  every  element  of  sorrow  has  dis- 
appeared ! HORATIUS  BONAR. 


There  is  not  a  more  repulsive  spectacle  than 
the  old  man  who  will  not  forsake  the  world  which 
has  already  forsaken  him. — Augustus  Tholuck. 


346  LIGHT  AT  EVENING  TIME. 


FOREVER  WITH  THE  LORD. 

"  FoEEVER  with  tlie  Lord  !" 
So,  Jesus,  let  it  be ; 
Life  from  the  dead  is  in  that  word — 
'Tis  immortality. 

Here  in  the  body  pent, 

Absent  from  Thee  I  roam ; 
Yet  nightly  pitch  my  moving  tent 

A  day's  march  nearer  home. 

"  Forever  with  the  Lord !" 
Savior,  if  'tis  Thy  will, 
The  promise  of  that  faithful  word 
E'en  here  to  me  fulfill. 

So  when  my  latest  breath 

Shall  rend  the  veil  in  twain, 
By  death  I  shall  escape  from  death, 

And  life  eternal  gain. 

Knowing  as  I  am  known. 

How  shall  I  love  that  word. 
And  oft  repeat  before  the  throne, 

"Forever  with  the  Lord !" 

James  Montgomery. 


Although  the  day  be  ne'er  so  long, 
At  last  it  ringeth  to  even  song. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Adam,  T.,  223. 

Adams,  Sarah  R,  262. 

Adams,  William,  140,  214. 

Addison,  Joseph,  254. 

A  Kempis,  Thomas,  169. 

Alexander,  James  W.,  9, 

Arnold,. Thomas,  300. 

Arnot, William,  281. 

Augustine,  150. 

Barrow,  J.,  56. 

Barton,  Bernard,  142,  305. 

Bate,  John,  245. 

Bates,  William,  311. 

Batty,  Thomas,  208. 

Baxter,  Richard,  115,  331. 

Bean,  James,  259. 

Beaumont,  J.,  320. 

Beecher,  H.  W.,  48,  83,  117,  120, 
180,  251,  262,  281,  303,  308,  332. 

Beveridge,  William,  250. 

Bickersteth,  Edward,  330. 

Binney,  Thomas,  303. 

Blunt,  Henry,  96, 133, 143,  207. 

Bonar,  Iloratius,  53, 148,  342. 

Boyd,  A.  K.  11.  ("Country  Par- 
son"), 24. 

Bridges,  Charles,  285. 

Brooks,  Thomas,  48, 180. 

Bunyan,  John,  47, 142, 194,  334. 

Burlingham,  A.  H.,  85. 

Butler,  W.  Archer,  246. 


Byrom,  John,  161. 

Caird,  John,  61,157. 

Campbell,  Hope,  90. 

Cameron,  Andrew,  135. 

Cheever,  George  B.,  203. 

Cheever,H.T.,77. 

Chrysostom,  98, 100. 

Coley,  S.,  83. 

Crosby,  Howard,  154. 

Davies,  Edwin,  87. 

Davies,  Samuel,  231. 

Elliott,  Charlotte,  228. 

Faber,F.W.,340. 

Ferguson,  R.,  327. 

Flavel,  John,  198. 

Foster,  John,  49. 

Fry,  Caroline,  94. 

Gasparin,  Madame    de,  190,  194, 

207. 
Gill,  John,  166. 
Gray,  Rachael,  276. 
Guthrie,  Thomas,  89,  93, 121,  279, 

302,323. 
Hall,  John,  170, 173, 174, 176, 177, 

194. 
Hall,  Joseph,  22,76. 
Hamilton,  James,  70, 104,  312. 
Hamilton,  R.W.,  321. 
Hawker,  Robert,  34. 
Henry,  Matthew,  136, 179, 280. 
Henry,  Philip,  202. 


348 


INDEX  OF  A  UTIIOES. 


Hervey,  James,  73,  251. 

Hoge,W.  J.,  128. 

Holme,  John  Stanford,  295,  297. 

Hood,  Edwin  Paxton,  227. 

Plowe,  John,  182. 

Hullett,  J.,  145. 

Jay,  William,  187. 

Jenks,  Benjamin,  268, 273. 

Kelly,  Thomas,  11 8, 168. 

Ken,  Thomas,  271. 

Krummacher,F.W.,31, 37, 84,128, 
304,316,318. 

Leighton, Robert,  92, 1 30, 221 ,  264, 
302. 

Longfellow,  II. W.,  134. 

Lyte,  Henry  Francis,  71, 127,  236. 

Macaulay,T.  B.,291. 

Macduff,  J.  R.,  79, 160. 

Maclaurin,  J.,  70. 

Magoon,E.  L.,88. 

Manning,  II.  E,,  30. 

Marty n,  Henry,  55. 

Maynard,  Mary,  263. 

McCheyne,R.  M.,235. 

McLaurcn,  337. 

Milton,  John,  52. 

Montgomery,  James,  346. 

More,  Hannah,  316. 

Mogridge,  George  ("Old  Hum- 
phrey"), 249. 

MuhlenburgjAVilliam  A.,  323. 

Miiller,  H.,  244. 

Newman,  John  Henry,  149. 

Newton,  John,  114, 191. 

Palmer,  Ray,  63. 

Parker,  T.,  294. 

Parsons,  James,  309. 

Pascal,  Jacqueline,  146. 


Phelps,  S.  Dryden,  329. 

Pope,  Alexander,  247. 

Prentiss,  Mrs.  E.,  46,  219,  225,  242. 

Pulsford,  J.,  36. 

Punshon,  William  M.,  1 46, 188, 205. 

Ramsay,  E.B,,  125. 

Ridgaway,  H.  B.,198. 

Robertson,FrederickW., 32, 38,44, 

59,  68,  91, 164,196,  219,  232,  282. 
Romaine,  William,  288. 
Ruskin,  John,  119. 
Rutherford,  Samuel,  80, 113, 190. 
Saunders,  Frederick,  243. 
Scriver,  Christian,  158, 290. 
Sibbes,  Richard,  153,  211. 
Spurgeon,  Charles,  57,  162,  230, 

237,277,284. 
Stanford,  C,  307,  318. 
Stanley,  Arthur  P.,  326. 
Stoughton,J.,325. 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  255. 
Tholuck,  Augustus,  41,  339,  345. 
Toplady,A.M.,40,  241. 
Townson,J.,  279. 
Trench,Richard  Chcnevix,!  32,339. 
Vaughan,C.J.,209. 
Watson,  Richard,  122. 
Watts,  Isaac,  82,131,306. 
Wesley,  Charles,  181, 275. 
Wesley,  John,  106,  225. 
Wesleys,  The  Mother  of  the,  1 1 2. 
Whitecross,  J.,195. 
Whittier,John  G.,97. 
Wilberforcc,  William,  187. 
Williams,  William,  293. 
Williams,  William  R.,  65,  81,  278. 
Willmott,R.A.,138. 
Winslow,  Mrs.  Mary,  39. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


Abide  with  us,  127. 
Abraham,  the  Death  of,  304. 
Active  Life,  aged  Christians  still 

in,  12. 
Advent,  the,  82. 
Affliction,  126. 

Affliction,  a  Prayer  for  one  in,  271. 
Affliction, Uses  of,  132. 
Age,  Happiness  of,  36. 
Aged  and  Helpless,  305. 
Aged,  a  Psalm  for  the,  41. 
Aged  Christian,  Testimony  of  an, 

51. 
Aged  Person,  a  Prayer  for  the  Use 

of  an,  273. 
Aged  Person,  Letter  to  an,  113. 
Arise,  Shine,  for  thy  Light  is  come, 

246. 
Asleep  and  Awake,  281. 
Autumn  and  Spring,  263. 

Beacon  Light,  the,  329. 
Believer,  Death  of  the,  295. 
Best  as  it  is,  143. 
Bible,  the,  231,278. 
Bible,  the  Old  Man's,  140. 
Bitter,  the,  with  the  Sweet,  64. 
Blindness,  Milton  on  his,  52. 
Building,  120. 

Cax-e  upon  Christ,  cast  all  your, 

205. 
"Casting  all  your  Care  upon  him," 

115. 
Cheer,  Words  of,  195. 


Christ  a  Fountain,  83. 

Christ,  all  from,  76. 

Christ,  all  One  in,  275. 

Christ  in  the  Christian,  85. 

Christ,  joint  Heirs  with,  98. 

Christ,  Looking  to,  169. 

Christ,  the  full  Vision  of,  288. 

Christ,  to  be  with,  277. 

Christ,  to  depart  and  be  with — far 
better,  337. 

Christian  Progress,  32. 

Christian,  the  trembling,  136. 

Christian,Trial  of  the  worldly,  196. 

City,  the  abiding,  168. 

Clouds,  227. 

Communion  with  God,  300. 

Compensation,  the  Bible  a  His- 
tory of,  138. 

Conquerors,  more  than,  284. 

Contentment,  112. 

Cross-bearing,  207. 

Cross,  before  the,  208. 

Cross,  Glory  of  the,  69. 

Cross,  Taking  up  the,  71. 

Crown  of  Glory,  the  hoary  Head 
a,  22. 

David's  Harp,  318. 
Death,  a  Preparation  for,  300. 
Death,Comfort  for  theHour  of,330. 
Death,  consoling  Idea  of,  260. 
Death,  the  Believer's,  166. 
Death,  the  Fear  of,  18. 
Death,  the  Worldling's  Notion  of, 
21. 


350 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


Death  welcome,  157. 
Delight  in  God,  the  Saint's,  182. 
Dependence,  a  Life  of,  176. 
Dependence  of  the  Soul,  God  the 

only,  68. 
Depression,  Religious,  164. 
Difficulties  solved,  194. 
Due  Time,  the,  130. 
Dying,  Gain  of,  308. 

Enduring  unto  the  End,  49,  75. 
Entrance,  the  abundant,  154. 
Eventide,  Light  at,  253. 

Faint  not,  ye  shall  Reap  if  ye, 

68. 
Faith,  244. 

Faith,  Fidelity  to  the,  79. 
Faith,  Life  of,  82. 
Faith,  Living  by,  63. 
Faith,  Magnetism  of,  77. 
Faith,  Simple,  36. 
Faith,  Simplicity  of,  89. 
Faith,  the  riper  Fruits  of,  137. 
Faith,  the  Trial  of  our,  106. 
Faith,the  Walkof,  39. 
Fear  of  Death,  Prayer  against  the, 

259. 
Feelings,  Changeful,  180. 
Fidelity  in  Persecution,  88. 
Forever  with  the  Lord,  346. 
Fullness   of  Joy   at   God's   right 

Hand,  323. 
Future,  Caring  for  the,  303. 
Future,  Ignorance  of  the,  87. 

Glory,  a  Vision  of,  335. 
God,  Access  to,  104. 
God  a  Friend,  84. 
God  a  Rock,  135. 
God,  Dependence  upon,  145. 
God  hath  led  me  all  these  Years, 
209. 


God,  Love  of,  160. 
God,  Rest  only  in,  161. 
God,  Silence  of,  117. 
God  unchangeable,  48. 
God,  upheld  by,  73. 
God,  Ways  of,  316. 
Goodness,  personal,  192. 
Gospel,  the  Glorious,  281. 
Gospel,  the,  not  gloomy,  128. 
Grace,  saved  by,  195. 
Grace,  the  Teachings  of,  179. 
Gratitude,  Memorial  of,  147. 
Great  Physician,  Treatment  of  the, 

242. 
Guide,  the  Holy  Spirit  our,  211. 

Hand,  Divine,  upheld  by  the,  73, 
Happiness,  attaining,  262. 
Hearer,  not  a  Forgetful,  234. 
Hearing  and  Doing,  125. 
Heart,  hardening  the,  235. 
Heaven  a  City,  302. 
Heaven,  Activity  in,  332. 
Heaven,  Beginning  of,  294. 
Heaven,  Foretokens  of,  321. 
Heaven,  Friendships  of,  320. 
Heaven,  Liquiries  about,  318. 
Heaven,  Longing  for,  325. 
Heaven  looked  forward  to,  306. 
Heaven,  nearness  of,  307. 
Heaven,  Paul's  Estimate  of,  316. 
Heaven,  Service  of,  312. 
Heaven,  the  Music  of,  311. 
Heaven,  the  Suburbs  of,  20. 
Heaven,  Thoughts  of,  309. 
Heavenly  Aspiration,  331. 
Holy  Song,  Priesthood  of,  243. 
Home,  a  humble,  70. 
Home,  Heaven  a,  279. 
Home,  Heaven  our,  153. 

I  AM,  250. 

"  I  am  ready  to  die,"  290. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


351 


Indemnities,  Christianity  a  System 

of,  15. 
Inheritance,  Glory  of  our,  100. 
"It  is  well,"  322. 
I  will  fear  no  Evil,  253. 
I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake 

thee,  314. 
IavouM  not  live  alway,  323. 

Jehovah  Jireh,  245. 
Jerusalem,  the  Holy,  50. 
Jesus,  Looking  to,  251. 
Jesus,  Sight  of,  93. 
Jesus,  Sympathy  of,  91. 
Job,  a  Parable,  37. 
Just  as  I  am,  228. 

Keep  the  Heart  alive,  142. 
Kindness,  Memory  of,  251. 

Last  Hours  of  Life,  Occupation  for 

the,  219. 
Lead,  kindly  Light,  149. 
Life  in  the  Flesh,  a,  173. 
Life,  Review  of,  257. 
Life,  the  Discouragements  of,  96. 
Life,  the  Troubles  of,  191. 
Life  to  come.  Happiness  of  the,  221. 
Life's  Changes,  144. 
Light  and  Dark,  122. 
Light,  at  Evening  Time  it  shall  be, 

24. 
Light,  through  Darkness  to,  192. 
Light  through  Tears,  124. 
Lives,  some  noble,  1 70. 
Longer  Life,  a  Prayer  for,  264. 
Look  on  Jesus,  not  on  the  Waves, 

133. 
Look  up,  92. 
Look  within,  123. 
Looking  Westward,  51. 
Lord,  cast  thy  Burden  on  the,  328. 
Loss  and  Gain,  238. 


Love  a  Safeguard,  282. 

Making  God's  Law  our  Song,  285. 
Man  Christ  Jesus,  the,  261. 
Meditation,  Importance  of,  202. 
Memories  of  the  Way,  146. 
Mercy,  Cloud  of,  81. 
Morning,  Evening  often  pleasanter 

than,  57. 
Mourners,  Comfort  for,  231. 
My  Grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  241. 

Nearer  Heaven,  224. 

Nearer  to  Thee,  262. 

Nearing  Heaven,  279. 

Nearing  the  Gates,  334. 

Night  of  Sorrow — Morning  of  Joy, 

121. 
Night-watch,  the,  53. 
Not  impatient,  but  ready,  317. 
Not  my  Will,  but  Thine,  148. 

Old  Age,  a  Parable,  31. 

Old  Age,  Beauty  of,  305. 

Old  Age,  blessed  Work  for,  229. 

Old  Age,  Backsliding  in,  240. 

Old  Age,  a  happy,  198. 

Old  Age,  Sin  forgiven  in,  162. 

Old  Man,  the,  207. 

Old  Man,  the  happy,  261. 

One  in  Christ,  40. 

Opened  Gates,  the,  224. 

Parable,  a,  128. 

Path  of  the  Just,  the,  203. 

Patience,  Angel  of,  97. 

Patience,  Motives  to,  65. 

Patient  Waiting,  191. 

Paul  the  Aged,  such  a  one  as,  34. 

Perseverance,  Christian,  47. 

Perseverance,  Christian,  Necessity 

of,  48. 
Pilgrimage,  our,  239. 


352 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


Pilgrim's  Prayer,  tlie,  293. 
Pilgrim's  Way  to  Heaven,  291. 
Portion,  God  our,  61. 
Poverty  in  Old  Age,  187. 
Praise,  56. 

Praise,  the  Spirit  of,  237. 
Prayer  and  Temptation,  255. 
Prayer,  unanswered,  326. 
Preparation  for  Death,  a  Prayer 

on,  268. 
Progress,  Christian,  32. 

Reaching  forward,  38. 
Remember  Lot's  Wife,  30. 
Resignation,  288. 
Rest,  Entering  into,  190. 
Retiring  from  Business,  1 1 . 
Retrospect  and  Prospect,  214. 
Reunion,  the,  342. 
Rock,  Build  on  the,  80. 
Rod,  the,  158. 

Self-denying  Effort,  a  Life  of,  174. 

Seventy-first  Psalm,  a  Commentary 
on  the,  41. 

Shadow  into  Sunshine,  from,  339. 

Shore  of  Eternity,  the,  340. 

Sick-chamber  Sabbath  Hymn,  248. 

Sickness  of  Elisha,  187. 

Sickness,  the  Chamber  of,  315. 

Sight  w^ell-pleasing  to  God,  a,  302. 

Simply  Trusting,  95. 

Sing,  for  your  Redemption  is  near, 
276. 

Sinner,  a,  be  merciful  to  me,  236. 

Sorrow,  the  Lessons  of,  232. 

Spiritual  Fellowship  with  depart- 
ed Friends,  297. 

Strength  of  Age,  the,  Joy  of  the 
Lord,  the,  17. 

Submitting  to  what?  141. 


Suffering  a  higher  Path  than  Do- 
ing, 167. 

Sufficiency,  the  Believer's,  188, 

Sun  of  Righteousness,  the  Soul 
mounting  toward  the,  14. 

Sunlight  sent  by  the  Lord,  90. 

Suspense,  46. 

Swift  Ships,  like  the,  230. 

Taking  Rest,  59. 

Temple,  the  Finishing  of  the,  55. 

The  Day,  Strength  sufficient  for,54. 

The  Past,  Oblivion  of,  44. 

The  Rest  of  Faith,  339. 

The  Shining  Shore,  333. 

The  Vision  of  God  and  a  Knowl- 
edge of  Heavenly  Mysteries,!  50. 

Think  of  this,  249. 

Thoughts,Wandering,  225. 

Through  Darkness  to  Light,  119, 
192. 

Time,Sanctification  a  Work  of,  146. 

Time,  the  Due,  130. 

Trials,  our,  114. 

Tribulation,  Comfort  in,  116. 

Tribulations,  we  glory  in,  also,  131. 

Truly  noble  Life,  a,  177. 

Unbelief,  evil  Effects  of,  198. 

Victory,  Last,  303. 

Waiting  Times,  180. 
Wanderer,  the  returning,  181. 
Way  to  God,  we  are  on  our,  118. 
Welsh  Peasant,  the,  94. 
"  When  Egypt's  King,"  247. 
Witnesses,  the  Cloud  of,  327. 
Work,  Finish  thy,  197. 

Youtli  renewed  in  Age,  9. 


THE    END. 


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